New Tolkien Books:updates

[davem]

Very important book on The Hobbit: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...420348-4703108

[Hilde Bracegirdle]

Looks like another good one. Interesting to see in the description that Tolkien was thinking of making TH more in the style of LotR.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Davem,

Thanks so much for that link.

Some comments about the Baggins book. I have been waiting for this almost 20 years! It's my understanding the job was first delegated to Taum Santoski (an American who had ties to the Marquette collection where the manuscripts are). I know he was working on it way back in the 1980s. I believe the task was actually delegated to him by Christopher Tolkien, who decided not to do The Hobbit when he took up the history of middle-earth.

Santoski died from cancer in 1991 (an early, tragic death), and the Baggins book was then delegated to John Rateliff, who also had ties to Marquette. The only interview I've ever seen with Rateliff on the net is here. He has an "interesting" background. I believe he went to Marquette and earned a doctorate there because of the presence of the Tolkien manuscipts. Apparently he earns a living by working with roleplaying games like D & D, Wizards of the Coast, etc. ! (He was also connected with Decipher's Lord of the Rings game, which was intentionally geared more to the books than other rpgs.)

For years, they kept pushing back the publication date of this book so I am surprised and happy to see that it's actually going to come out. I had gotten to the point where I was beginning to think it would never see the light of day.

Here is Rateliff's description (from the interview above) of the contents of this book:

The big project, which I've been working on for years and will finally be sending to the publisher near the end of this year, is a book called The History of The Hobbit . It's rather along the lines of Christopher Tolkien's editions that make up the History of Middle-Earth series (which I highly recommend if you haven't read them): an edition of the original manuscript of The Hobbit with extensive commentary on how Mr. Baggins' story fits into Tolkien's legendarium. It's a big book filled with the entire text of Tolkien's first draft, along with short essays about everything from rings of invisibility or Tolkien's spiders to a detailed account of just when Tolkien wrote the book (which can actually be reconstructed from available evidence to within a month or two on either end). I hope people will like it when it finally sees the light of day.

If he's really done this, it will be amazing! What makes this book especially interesting is that it has the personal blessing of Christopher Tolkien. Before the reading copy was sent to the publisher, it was submitted to Christopher to comment: May 3, 2006 blog entry.

Davem (or anyone else) -- if you know anything more about Rateliff, what's in his book, or the history of this title, please let me know. I have been following this story since the eighties, but it's always been kind of elusive. Let's just hope publication isn't delayed beyond September.

[davem]

Originally Posted by Child

Let's just hope publication isn't delayed beyond September.

Well, Amazon UK on the link gives publication as May 8th next year. Of course, that could be wrong, but as next year is the 70th anniversary of the publication of TH I suspect its likely. The only edition I'm aware of is the one in the link, published by Harper Collins here in the UK. Don't know if its being published in the US, so anyone outside the UK may have to get it on import. I don't think Houghton Mifflin have published a US edition of the recent SoWM edited by Flieger either.

As far as I'm aware the only thing CT has written specifically on the development of TH is the Introductory essay he wrote for this recent edition of TH: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...420348-4703108
(16 pages long with colour plates of manuscript pages - also including a fold-out Thror's map with the moon-runes printed in reverse on the back as Tolkien wished, so that when the map in held up to the light they show through- like magic!).

EDIT found this:

In a paper by John Rateliff, given in October 2004 and published about
a month ago, it is also stated the forthcoming publishing of The
History of the Hobbit. John Rateliff even cites a section or chapter
by name:

"It can hardly be coincidence that as late as 1940, when writing the
opening chapter of The Hobbit, Tolkien felt free to include not only
references to Beren,... [more of his mythology]... but also to the Gobi
Desert, Hindu Kush, and "the Wild were-Worms of the Chinese" as past of
Bilbo's world. (40)

40. See Rateliff, "The Pryftan Fragment", in _The History of The
Hobbit_, forthcomming."

And in bibliography it appears as:

Rateliff, John D. The history of the Hobbit. London: Harper Collins,
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, forthcoming.

here

Of course, as one of the posters points out first chapter of TH was written long before 1940, so probably a typo (for 1930??). However the 'Wild Were-Worms in the Last Desert' do appear in the published TH.

[Lalwendë]

That all makes me wonder exactly what the story Tolkien told to his own children was like! I imagine it was very different to The Hobbit that we know today.

[Mithalwen]

Another reason I wish CT would tell us more of what he remembers as well as what he has documentary evidence for... there are flashes of dry wit in his annotations that make me think that a memoir would be a fabulous read.....

[Child of the 7th Age]

Mithalwen,

There is supposed to be another book coming out in the fall that has at least some "remembrances", including that of CT. It is J.R.R. Tolkien: Interviews, Reminiscences, and other Essays by Douglas Anderson and Marjorie Burns, Houghton Mifflin Co., to be published October 21, 2007.

Some of the essays and such are "new"; others are interviews and contributions that were done some years ago but weren't widely available. They are said to be "lively and loving testimonials." The book features reminiscences from CT, Priscilla Tolkien, Michael Tolkien, the lexicographer of the OED, Robert Murray (in view of the interesting public letters, I'd like to see this one), Donald Swann, L. Sprague de Camp, Norman Power (?) and Raymond Unwin. They also include the unedited transcript of the BBC interview.

I have my fingers crossed that the October publication date is "real" as it has been pushed back twice before. I am looking forward to seeing this book. I know it's available for pre-order through amazon.com (the U.S. one...I'm not sure about the British).