The classic Pauline Baynes' map poster of Middle Earth hung on many bedroom walls in the 1970s. Last year, a map annotated with the edits and instructions from J.R.R. Tolkien to Pauline Baynes while she worked on the illustrated map have come to light, revealing a host of interesting facts about Tolkien's vision and inspiration for Middle Earth. The newly discovered map with annotations by Baynes ... [more]

National newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic were abuzz over the weekend with the news that a first edition of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit had sold for a record price at auction. The book sold for £137,000 (about $210,500). To put this in perspective, the previous record price was £50,000. Why did this sale outperform expectations so astonishingly? Well, it might have had something to do with... [more]

In anticipation of the 75th anniversary of the publication of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, Harper Collins has announced that it will be releasing 110 of Tolkien's original illustrations for the book, twenty of which are previously unpublished. The illustrations were compiled into a book entitled The Art of The Hobbit, which will be released on October 27. The drawings have been in Tolkien's archiv... [more]