Product Description

The definitive edition of this beloved children's classic, featuring a wealth of accompanying illustrations and notes which take the reader further into both the story, and the tale of how it was written. Seldom has any book been so widely read and loved as J.R.R. Tolkien's classic tale, The Hobbit. Since its first publication in 1937 it has remained in print to delight each new generation of readers all over the world, and its hero, Bilbo Baggins, has taken his place among the ranks of the immortals: Alice, Pooh, Toad! As with all classics, repeated readings continue to bring new detail and perspectives to the reader's mind, and Tolkien's Middle-earth is a vast mine of treasures and knowledge, its roots delving deep into folklore, mythology and language. The Hobbit is, therefore, an ideal book for annotation: as well as offering a marvellous and entrancing story, it introduces the reader to the richly imagined world of Middle-earth, a world more fully and complexly realised in The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. Douglas Anderson's annotations make fascinating reading. Additionally, many of Tolkien's own illustrations embellish the text, and numerous illustrations from foreign editions exhibit an extraordinary range of visual interpretation. In an appendix there are details of the revisions made by Tolkien at various times to the publsihed text, which provide an uncommon and privileged glimpse into the special concerns of an exceptional and painstaking writer.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #74403 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 512 pages

About the Author
Douglas Anderson is one of the foremost scholars of Tolkien's work, and was involved in the resetting of The Lord of the Rings for the centenary edition illustrated by Alan Lee.

Customer Reviews

A treasure-trove
I'm amazed no one has bothered to write a review of this before now.
Annotated versions of everyone's favourite classics are impossible to resist, and this is no exception. Beautifully designed and produced, everything about this book smacks of love and dedication, from the endless fascinating notes that fill in every conceivable aspect of this famous tale, to the gallery of pictures - who would have thought Bilbo Baggins could look so different, depending on which edition of the book you happen to have stumbled upon.
Do get this if you can, it's a thing of beauty.

Definitive, erudite and delightful
This is a wonderful book and so much more than a definitive text if such could exist, as it contains a wealth of information in the annotations that make it a must read for anyone interested in folklore, mythology or the origin of obscure words and phrases. Tokein fans sould already have it on their shelves. It provides a wealth of background info on Tolkeins sources as well as details of various non-english editions including many illustrations that are unlikely to be seen anywhere else.
The annotations are presented in a convenient way that does not interfere with a straight reading of the text but allows simple and straightforward reference to them without losing the flow of the text
Far from detracting, as heavy annotations can so often do, the annotations here seem to bring the story even more to life and add depth and character and perhaps explains why Tolkeins tales are so popular as new dimensions are added to myths we are all to some degree already probably familiar with.
As someone who used the phrase to 'bag off' when skipping off for an extra snack at lunchtime when younger I was delighted to discover the origin of the surname Baggins. An absolute delight.