Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull, the same folks who wrote The Art of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, are releasing another Tolkien art book, The Art of the Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. The book will include multiple drawings, inscriptions, maps and plans, resulting in over 180 images. Find out more about the book here.
It will be released in October 2015 and you can find the book on the following sites:
As he wrote The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien’s mental pictures often found expression in drawing, from rough sketches made within the manuscript to more finished illustrations. Only a few of these were meant for publication; most were aids to help Tolkien conceive his complex story and keep it consistent. Many do not illustrate the final text, but represent moments of creation, illuminating Tolkien’s process of writing and design. In addition to pictorial sketches, numerous maps follow the development of the Shire and the larger landscape of Middle-earth, while inscriptions in runes and Elvish script, and “facsimile” leaves from the burned and blood-stained Book of Mazarbul, support Tolkien’s pose as an “editor” or “translator” of ancient records.
When asked about the challenges of putting this book together, Wayne writes that in a way it was easier than their previous book. “Since our new book is to use the same design, many of its physical details were already settled when we began. But even though Tolkien didn’t formally illustrate The Lord of the Rings, he made many drawings and maps and inscriptions, and there were many more of these than we had to deal with for The Hobbit. Also, since they were made as The Lord of the Rings was written, mainly to work out details in the story (as opposed to the Hobbit art which mostly can stand separately), we needed to relate them not only to the published Lord of the Rings, itself a long text (much longer than The Hobbit), but also to multiple drafts as published in The History of Middle-earth or more directly in the manuscripts and typescripts held at Marquette University.” You can read the full interview here.
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