The Art of J.R.R Tolkien - The Hobbit and more (An Antique Books Guide)

The Art of Tolkien

J.R.R Tolkien is best known for his world-famous fantasy world - Middle Earth. His 'big four' books (The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy) have sold more than 250 million copies combined, making him one of the most popular authors the world has ever seen.

Sadly, this popularity has overshadowed a skill that few people know of - his skill as an artist.
J.R.R Tolkien in fact illustrated The Hobbit and created the now iconic dust-jacket design as well as the numerous maps and designs that go with the series.

Below I have collected a range of images from his books (all from my own collection) in the hope that I can enlighten just a few people to the skills of this multi-talented legend.

The Iconic Hobbit Dust-jacket

This famous design was first used in 1937 when the book was originally released and has been used for many different editions and is still being used to this day. The simple colours reflected the cost of print in the 1930's, meaning that the more colours, the more expensive the printing costs.

And yet that is what makes the design so striking, for it simple shows the misty-mountains and sweeping forest that many associate with the world of Middle-Earth.

The Map of Middle Earth

Another fairly renowned illustration of Tolkien's is the map of Middle Earth which features all of the assets of modern fantasy including mountains, a compass and a dragon as well as mysterious names like 'The Misty Mountains'.

This is true fantasy gold.

Hobbiton-across-the-water

This plate is the original frontispeice of early editions of The Hobbit and is still used today. This single scene effectively summarises the peace and tranquility of the Shire. Reminiscent of the English countryside where Tolkien found influence, this illustration is one of his brightest and is a true joy to behold.

If one example of Tolkien's artistic prowess were to be called for, this would be it.

Various Other scenes from The Hobbit:

These four illustrations all show various aspects of Tolkien's skill. The Rivendell scene is reminiscent of the Hobbiton-across-the-water scene but with the sculptured and rather fantastic mountain faces added.

The eagle scene is perhaps the most unique of the illustrations found in The Hobbit for it's harsh, bright colours and angry Eagle focus. Yet as ever the mountains are in the background and firmly place this scene in Middle Earth.

The Smaug scene below is another classic and was in fact used in a modern edition for the cover design. Here is anther unique illustration for its childish simplicity and bright colours.

And lastly the black and white illustration of Bilbo's Hobbit-hole. This is the last illustration in the book and firmly closes the tale to the reader by entering into the Hobbit's domain. The glimpse of Middle Earth outside of the hobbit-hole reminds us of the journey that has been and gone and makes this one of Tolkien's cleverest illustrations.

The 'secret' illustrations

Included in the 1987 edition of The Hobbit were a few extra illustrations collected by Tolkien's son. These are all line-drawings and far more simple than the colourful plates previously noted. Yet they strike to the bare bones of his fantastic creation more effectively and are very interesting for the advanced reader.

The Map

Tolkien was adept too at map-drawing and quite convincingly created the contour-map for Middle Earth. Below is a zoomed-in section just to show the exacting measures he applied to all of his work.

Mr Bliss

This more recent book was only published in the early 1980's and was published on the merit of Tolkien's illustration alone, from an original manuscript discovered by Christoper Tolkien. Tolkien left a mighty collection of background information and scene-setting regarding Middle-Earth, enough to create a ten-book series in fact as his son actually did. However, this charming tale is more important to this post for its artistic value.

Charming and nostalgic.

And that brings this post to an end.
I hope that I managed to impress upon you at least a little of Tolkien's skill as an artist and if you ever read The Hobbit again, maybe take a moment to appreciate the illustrations as well aa the story.

Thanks for reading and as ever please share and comment if possible!