Last week marked the 60th anniversary ofThe Return of The King’s first publication,J.R.R. Tolkien’s final novel in his belovedLord of the Ringsnovel trilogy. Just a few days after this anniversary passed,Blackwell’s Rare Booksin Oxford made a surprising discovery, a map of Middle Earth with handwritten annotations from author J.R.R. Tolkien himself. The map was found in illustratorPauline Bynes' copy ofThe Lord of the Rings, who had worked with the author on a color map of Middle Earth that was published in 1970.
Blackwell’s is selling the map for 60,000 British pounds ($92,118), with the company calling this discovery, “perhaps the finest piece of Tolkien ephemera to emerge in the last 20 years at least.” The author’s hand-written notes reveal that Hobbiton is on the same latitude as Oxford, which is fitting sinceJ.R.R. Tolkienwas a professor of Anglo-Saxon at the prestigious Oxford University. He also uses other locations such as Belgrade, Cyprus, and Jerusalem as reference points in the map, with Blackwell surmising thatMiddle Earthcity of Minas Tirith was inspired by the Italian city of Ravenna. Here’s what Blackwell’sSian Wainwrighthad to say in a statement toThe Guardian.
“The map shows how completely obsessed he was with the details. Anyone else interfered at their peril. He was tricky to work with, but very rewarding in the end.”
The book where the map was found was handed in to the shop, which is also selling a series ofPauline Bynes' work, who also collaborated withThe Chronicles of Narniaauthor C.S. Lewis. Blackwell’s also has correspondences betweenBynesand Tolkien, where she describes the author as “uncooperative,” although he later apologizes for being so “dilatory.” Here’s whatHenry Gott, modern first editions specialist at Blackwell’s Rare Books, had to say in his statement.
“(It’s) an exciting and important discovery: new to scholarship (though its existence is implied by correspondence between the two), it demonstrates the care exercised by both in their mapping of Tolkien’s creative vision. Before going on display in the shop this week, this had only ever been in private hands (Pauline Baynes’s for the majority of its existence). One of the points of interest is how much of a hand Tolkien had in thepostermap; all of his suggestions, and there are many (the majority of the annotation on the map is his), are reflected inBaynes’s version. The degree to which it is properly collaborative was not previously apparent, and couldn’t be without a document like this. Its importance is mostly to do with the insight it gives into that process.”
Lord of the RingsstarIan McKellen, who played the iconicGandalfin themovie trilogy, also showcased the find on hisTwitterpage yesterday. Take a look at a photo of the map, along with the author’s notebooks below. Would you shell out $92,218 to own a piece ofLord of the Ringshistory? Let us know what you think, and stay tuned for more on this historic discovery.
