The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide
| The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Author | Christina Scull, Wayne G. Hammond |
| Publisher | HarperCollins (UK) Houghton Mifflin (US) |
| Released | 11 November 2006 (UK) 6 October 2006 (US) |
| Format | Hardcover boxed set |
| Pages | vol.1: 1020 vol.2: 1280 |
| ISBN | 0007169728 |
The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide is a comprehensive in-depth study and referential guide to the life and works of J.R.R. Tolkien. It was first published in 2006, compiled by Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond.
The book won the 2007 Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies.
Overview[edit]
- First Edition
The first edition was released in 2006, it is composed of two volumes:
- Chronology
- Reader’s Guide
The bulk of volume 1, Chronology, consists of a chronological account of Tolkien's life. It includes a large number of quotations from letters written by Tolkien together with extracts from some of his diaries, papers in various archives and libraries, and from other unpublished or hard to find sources. Also included are some useful listings of Tolkien's writings, art and poetry.[1]
Volume 2, Reader’s Guide, is a combined 'Who's Who', 'What's What', and 'Where's Where' of all things Tolkien. It includes a large number of quotations from letters written by Tolkien together with extracts from some of his diaries, papers in various archives and libraries, and from other unpublished or hard to find sources.[2]
- Second Edition
A second edition, revised and expanded, was released in three volumes in 2017.[3]
- Chronology
- Reader’s Guide Part I
- Reader’s Guide Part II
From the publisher (second edition)[edit]
Stunning three-volume slipcased set containing the most comprehensive in-depth companion to Tolkien’s life and works ever published, including synopses of all his writings, and a Tolkien gazetteer, who’s who and chronology.
The three volumes contained in this slipcase, written by two of the foremost experts on J.R.R. Tolkien, comprise the definitive handbook to one of the most popular authors of the 20th century. Tolkien's progress is traced from his birth in South Africa in 1892, to the battlefields of France and the lecture-halls of Leeds and Oxford, to his success as the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, until his death in 1973. His many academic and literary achievements, his public reception, and his enduring fame are examined in detail.
The first volume in this set is a Chronology of Tolkien's life and works, the most extensive biographical resource about him ever published. Thousands of details have been drawn from letters, contemporary documents in libraries and archives, and a wide variety of other published and unpublished sources. Assembled together, they form a portrait of Tolkien in all his aspects: the distinguished scholar of Old and Middle English, the capable teacher and administrator, the devoted husband and father, the brilliant creator of Middle-earth.
The second and third volumes, the Reader's Guide, is an indispensable introduction to Tolkien's life, writings, and art. It includes histories and discussions of his works; analyses of the components of his vast 'Silmarillion' mythology; brief biographies of persons important in his life; accounts of places he knew; essays on topics such as Tolkien's interests and attitudes towards contemporary issues, ideas found in his works, adaptations, and invented languages; and checklists of his published works, his poetry, his pictorial art, and translations of his writing.
Unique Tolkien writings[edit]
The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide includes many quotes from formerly unpublished or hard-to-find writings of Tolkien.
- Chronology (2006), p. 625: quotes from two writings concerning an abandoned preface to 'The Golden Key'. (?Late November 1964-?mid-February 1965)
Publication history and gallery[edit]
|
- First Edition: HarperCollins hardcover boxed set (11 November 2006), pp. 2300. ISBN 0007169728
- Volume 1: HarperCollins hardcover (2006), pp. 1020. ISBN 0618391029
- Volume 2: HarperCollins hardcover (2006), pp. 1280. ISBN 0618391010
- Second Edition: HarperCollins hardcover boxed set (2 November 2017), pp. 2720. ISBN 0008214549
- Volume 1: HarperCollins hardcover (2017), pp. 960. ISBN 0008214514
- Volume 2: HarperCollins hardcover (2017), pp. 856. ISBN 0008214522
- Volume 3: HarperCollins hardcover (2017), pp. 896. ISBN 0008214530
See also[edit]
- The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion
- A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien
- The J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia
External links[edit]
- Addenda and Corrigenda to The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide (2006)
- Addenda and Corrigenda to The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide (2017)
- John Garth, Review of the first edition, Tolkien Studies. 4
- Jason Fisher, Review of the second edition, Tolkien Studies. 15
References
- ↑ TolkienBooks.net (accessed 20 May 2022)
- ↑ TolkienBooks.net (accessed 20 May 2022)
- ↑ Wayne G. Hammond & Christina Scull, "Tolkien Companion and Guide 2nd Ed." dated 4 October 2016, Too Many Books and Never Enough (accessed 1 October 2020)
