A series of paintings and sketches created by JRR Tolkien while he was writing The Lord of the Rings should be included in the epic fantasy novel for the first time since its publication in 1954.
Tolkien has always been modest about his skills as an artist: although a handful of his illustrations were featured in The Hobbit, the author described himself as “quite overwhelmed” by a critic’s comments that the images “show no reflection of his talent. literary and imagination ”, adding:“ all the more because I agree with him entirely ”(CS Lewis rated the images and maps as“ admirable ”). While writing The Lord of the Rings in 1939, he told the editor that the work it was “laborious” and that “I would have neither the time nor the energy for illustrations. I was never able to draw, and the incomplete hints of it seem to have left me completely. A (very necessary) map would be all I could do.”
But he continued to create a series of drawings, illustrations, maps and sketches while telling the story of Frodo and Sam’s quest, many as pictorial aids as he wrote his extensive story, and some for his own pleasure. Although the works were collected in books such as Christopher Tolkien’s Images by JRR Tolkien, and JRR Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator by Wayne G Hammond and Christina Scull, and were shown at exhibitions in 2018, Tolkien’s ownership has now granted HarperCollins the rights to publish a new edition of The Lord of the Rings, in which the images accompany the text that were created to illustrate for the first time.
“Like many young readers, I was delighted with his charming and evocative illustrations that accompanied The Hobbit. These paintings, especially the now iconic image that appears on their cover, have become as beloved as the story they accompany, ”said HarperCollins’ deputy director of publishing, Chris Smith. “Even so, the author himself was characteristically modest, disregarding the obvious and rare artistic talent he possessed despite having had no formal training. This modesty meant that relatively little more of his works of art were known or seen during his lifetime, and generally only in academic books afterwards. “
Most of Tolkien’s paintings, added Smith, “appeared to be private activities, produced for him or his children.” Only two of Tolkien’s illustrations were included in the original edition of The Lord of the Rings – Durin’s Doors and the Inscription on Balin’s Tomb. The new edition, with 30 of Tolkien’s illustrations, maps and sketches, will be launched in October.