The History of The Hobbit
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| Author | J. R. R. Tolkien & John D. Rateliff |
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| Language | English |
| Publisher | HarperCollins in the UK Houghton Mifflin in the USA |
| Publication date | 2007 |
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The History of The Hobbit, a new two-volume study of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, was published by HarperCollins in June and July 2007 in the UK, with both volumes released in the United States by Houghton Mifflin on September 21, 2007; a boxed set combining The Hobbit with The History of The Hobbit was released on October 26, 2007.
The two-volume work contains Tolkien’s previously unpublished original drafts of the novel, accompanied by commentary written by John D. Rateliff.[1] It also details Tolkien’s various revisions to The Hobbit, including abandoned revisions for the unpublished third edition of the work, intended for 1960, as well as previously unpublished original maps and illustrations drawn by Tolkien himself.[2]
[edit] Two parts
The first volume is titled The History of The Hobbit: Volume I: Mr. Baggins. This contains the first half of Tolkien’s draft material for The Hobbit, along with commentary. This volume was published in the UK May 4, 2007.
The second volume, entitled The History of The Hobbit: Volume II: Return to Bag-End, contains the last half of Tolkien’s original manuscript draft, with commentary, as well as later drafts and appendices. This volume was published in the UK in July, 2007.
[edit] Relationship to The History of Middle-earth
When Christopher Tolkien began publishing The History of Middle-earth, a twelve-volume series documenting J. R. R. Tolkien’s creative writing process in the creation of Middle-earth, with texts dating from the 1920s to the 1970s, he made a conscious decision not to issue a volume detailing the creation of The Hobbit. According to him, The Hobbit was not originally a part of the Middle-earth universe and was attached to his father's earlier, far darker legendarium only superficially, although the existence of The Hobbit forever altered the legendarium. The tone of The Hobbit is much lighter and more appropriate to a children’s tale than that of J. R. R. Tolkien’s other writings.
As Christopher Tolkien was not going to embark on a published study of The Hobbit, the task was given to Taum Santoski in the 1980s. Santoski had connections to the Marquette collection of Tolkien material, which is where the original manuscripts reside. He died in 1991, and ultimately the task passed to John Rateliff. Although Christopher Tolkien did not work directly on The History of The Hobbit, the work will be in a very similar vein to the "literary archaeology" of his History of Middle-earth.[3]
Rateliff submitted a finished draft of the book to Christopher Tolkien, who, approving of the work, gave The History of The Hobbit his personal blessing to be published in association with his father’s other works.
[edit] References
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| Bibliography | |
| Fiction | Songs for the Philologists (1936) • The Hobbit or There and Back Again (1937) • Leaf by Niggle (1945) • The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun (1945) • Farmer Giles of Ham (1949) • The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son (1953) • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (1954), The Two Towers (1954), The Return of the King (1955) • The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book (1962) • The Road Goes Ever On (1967) • Tree and Leaf (1964) • The Tolkien Reader (1966) • Smith of Wootton Major (1967) |
| Posthumous Fiction | The Father Christmas Letters (1976) • The Silmarillion (1977) • Unfinished Tales (1980) • Bilbo's Last Song (1990) • The History of Middle-earth (12 Volumes) (1983–1996) • Roverandom (1998) • The Children of Húrin (2007) • The History of The Hobbit (2007) |
| Academic | A Middle English Vocabulary (1922) • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Middle English text, 1925) • Some Contributions to Middle-English Lexicography (1925) • The Devil's Coach Horses (1925) • Ancrene Wisse and Hali Meiðhad (1929) • The Name 'Nodens' (1932) • Sigelwara Land parts I and II, in Medium Aevum (1932-34) • Chaucer as a Philologist: The Reeve's Tale (1934) • Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics (1937) • The Reeve's Tale: version prepared for recitation at the 'summer diversions' (1939) • On Fairy-Stories (1939) • Sir Orfeo (1944) • Ofermod and Beorhtnoth's Death (1953) • Middle English "Losenger": Sketch of an etymological and semantic enquiry (1953) • Ancrene Wisse: The English Text of the Ancrene Riwle (1962) • English and Welsh (1963) • Introduction to Tree and Leaf (1964) • Contributions to the Jerusalem Bible (as translator and lexicographer) (1966) • Tolkien on Tolkien (autobiographical) (1966) |
| Posthumous Academic | Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo (Modern English translations, 1975) • Finn and Hengest (1982) • The Monsters and the Critics (1983) • Beowulf and the Critics (2002) |
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| Published during his lifetime: | The Hobbit · The Lord of the Rings · The Adventures of Tom Bombadil · The Road Goes Ever On |
| Posthumous publications: | The Silmarillion · Unfinished Tales · The History of Middle-earth (12 volumes) · Bilbo's Last Song · The Children of Húrin · The History of The Hobbit |
| Lists of articles: | By category · By name · Writings · Characters · Peoples · Rivers · Realms · Ages |
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| Films: | Animated version (1977) · Planned live action version (2009) |
| Miscellanea: | Works inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien · Middle-earth in video games |
| Characters: | Bilbo · Gandalf · Thorin Oakenshield · Balin · Dwalin · Fíli · Kíli · Dori · Nori · Ori · Óin · Glóin · Bifur · Bofur · Bombur · Tom, Bert and Bill · Elrond · Great Goblin · Gollum · Lord of the Eagles · Beorn · Elvenking · Bard · Master of Lake-town · Smaug |
| Related works: | The History of The Hobbit · The Lord of The Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring · The Two Towers · The Return of the King) · The Adventures of Tom Bombadil · The Silmarillion · Unfinished Tales · The History of Middle-earth (includes The History of The Lord of the Rings) · Bilbo's Last Song · The Children of Húrin |
