The Annotated Hobbit

by Douglas A. Anderson

Overview

For readers throughout the world, The Hobbit serves as an introduction to the enchanting world of Middle-earth, home of elves, wizards, dwarves, goblins, dragons, orcs and a host of other creatures depicted in The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion -- tales that sprang from the mind of the most beloved author of all time, J.R.R. Tolkien.
Newly expanded and completely redesigned, Douglas A. Anderson's The Annotated Hobbit is the definitive explication of the sources, characters, places, and things of J.R.R. Tolkien's timeless classic. Integrated with Anderson's notes and placed alongside the fully restored and corrected text of the original story are more than 150 illustrations showing visual interpretations of The Hobbit specific to many of the cultures that have come to know and love Tolkien's Middle-earth. Tolkien's original line drawings, maps and color paintings are also included, making this the most lavishly informative edition of The Hobbit available.
The Annotated Hobbit shows how Tolkien worked as a writer, what his influences and interests were, and how these relate to the invented world of Middle-earth. It gives a valuable overview of Tolkien's life and the publishing history of The Hobbit, and explains how every feature of The Hobbit fits within the rest of Tolkien's invented world. Here we learn how Gollum's character was revised to accommodate the true nature of the One Ring, and we can read the full text of The Quest of Erebor, Gandalf's explanation of how he came to send Bilbo Baggins on his journey with the dwarves. Anderson also makes meaningful and often surprising connections to our own world and literary history -- from Beowulf to The Marvellous Land of Snergs, from the Brothers Grimm to C. S. Lewis.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780618134700
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	09/09/2002
Series:	Lord of the Rings Series
Edition description:	Annotated
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	171,790
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.23(d)

About the Author

DOUGLAS A. ANDERSON, a leading American Tolkien scholar, is acknowledged as the worldwide expert on the textual history of The Hobbit. He has contributed the text notes for all Houghton Mifflin Tolkien editions for more than a decade. He is also a bookseller, formerly in Ithaca, New York, now in northern Indiana.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Second Edition  xi introduction  1 1. an unexpected party  29 2. roast mutton  60 3. a short rest  87 4. over hill and under hill  100 5. riddles in the dark  115 6. out of the frying-pan into the fire  137 7. queer lodgings  161 8. flies and spiders  191 9. barrels out of bond  222 10. a warm welcome  241 11. on the doorstep  255 12. inside information  267 13. not at home  289 14. fire and water  302 15. the gathering of the clouds  314 16. a thief in the night  326 17. the clouds burst  333 18. the return journey  346 19. the last stage  355 Appendix A. The Quest of Erebor  367 Appendix B. The Runes  378 Bibliography  380 Map of Wilderland  399

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Not only fascinating, but useful. It makes of The Hobbit a kind of Tolkien handbook.
The Washington Post

Hobbit fans will treasure it.
The Denver Post

Editorial Reviews

Not only fascinating, but useful. It makes of The Hobbit a kind of Tolkien handbook.
The Washington Post

Hobbit fans will treasure it.
The Denver Post —

From the Publisher