Tolkien's Library: An Annotated Checklist
| Tolkien's Library: An Annotated Checklist | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Author | Oronzo Cilli |
| Editor | Tom Shippey (foreword), Verlyn Flieger (afterword) |
| Illustrator | Jay Johnstone (cover) |
| Publisher | Luna Press Publishing |
| Released | 8 August 2019 |
| Format | Hardcover; paperback |
| Pages | 466 |
| ISBN | 978-1911143901 |
Tolkien's Library: An Annotated Checklist is an in-depth scholarly study and reference work by Oronzo Cilli, published in 2019. The work aims to establish a complete list of books that once existed on J.R.R. Tolkien's shelves, which he either read, owned, borrowed, or consulted.
Though not designed for a general audience, the work is widely prasied by scholars, being a guide to Tolkien's mind and also "points the way for many further studies". It is the winner of the "Best Book" award of the Tolkien Society Awards 2020, and a finalist for the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies 2021.
The main list consists some 2600 entries, which forms the bulk of the book. Also included in this volume are: a list of Tolkien's published writings in his lifetime; his interviews and reviews; student papers that he examined; publications by the Early English Text Society when Tolkien was a member; and Tolkien's lectures in Leeds and Oxford.
A second edition of the book was published in 2023, with the addition of more than 400 new entires, an afterword by Verlyn Flieger, and a newly discovered poem by G.B. Smith not included in A Spring Harvest.
Contents[edit | edit source]
- Ackowledgements
- Foreword to the First Edition - Tom Shippey
- Preface
- Introduction to the Second Edition
- A tribute to G.B. Smith and the TCBS
- Research Methodology
- Section A - Primary Sources
- Section B - Secondary Sources
- Section C - The published writings of J.R.R. Tolkien 1910-1972
- Section D - Interviews and Reviews
- Section E - J.R.R. Tolkien - Supervisor and Examiner 1929-1960
- Section F - Tolkien and Early English Text Society 1938-1972
- Tolkien's Lectures: 1920-1959
- Afterword - Verlyn Flieger
- Bibliography
- Indexes
From the publisher[edit | edit source]
"A combination of circumstances means that we know more about J.R.R. Tolkien than about almost any other author, from any period. Nevertheless, in spite of all the efforts, there remains a certain opacity about Tolkien, both professionally and personally.
As this book shows, there is a way to bridge that gap which has not been previously attempted: a fact which makes this work by Oronzo Cilli arguably the work with most potential for giving us a truer understanding of Tolkien; a work which, besides its own immediate effect, points the way for many further studies. What Oronzo has done is, quite simply, to collect what is known about the books Tolkien owned and read.
The best guide to an author's mind is through his books, and in the work of Oronzo Cilli we have now the best and most valuable guide to Tolkien's books. It is a devoted, enduring, and above all inspirational work of scholarship, but not, as Oronzo knows, a final one. It joins that very select group of works, the most useful of all: a book we should keep, update, and write notes in the margin of, for the rest of our lives." — Tom Shippey
Publication history and gallery[edit | edit source]
|
- Luna Press Publishing, hardcover (2019), pp. 466. ISBN 978-1911143901
- paperback (2019), ISBN 978-1911143673
- Luna Press Publishing, hardcover (2023), pp. 521. ISBN 978-1913387778
- paperback (2023), ISBN 978-1913387761
External links[edit | edit source]
- Book review by Wayne G. Hammond & Christina Scull, Journal of Tolkien Research vol. 7
- Book review by Janet Brennan Croft, Tolkien Studies vol. 17
- Book review by Andoni Cossio, Mythlore vol. 38
