Just in time for Tolkien Reading Day: our friends at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt have sent us exciting news! Later this year, a new edition of The Lord of the Rings will be published, featuring – for the first time since the original 1954 publication – artwork by the Professor himself.
Here’s their full press release:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books & Media will publish a brand-new edition of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien that, for the the first time since its publication in 1954, will feature paintings, drawings and sketches by the author, in the U.S. on October 19, 2021.
Deb Brody, HMH’s VP and Publisher, says: ‘Professor Tolkien is known the world over for his literary and academic achievements, most especially as author of The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, and the critically acclaimed and worldwide bestselling The Lord of the Rings.
‘His charming and evocative illustrations that accompanied The Hobbit, particularly the now-iconic image that appears on its cover, have become as beloved as the story they accompany.”
‘Yet the author himself was characteristically modest, dismissive of the obvious and rare artistic talent he possessed despite having had no formal training. This modesty meant that relatively little else of his artwork was known of or seen during his lifetime, and generally only in scholarly books afterwards.
‘This all changed in 2018, with the first of three record-breaking Tolkien exhibitions in Oxford, New York and Paris, at which hundreds of thousands of people were able to appreciate at first hand the extraordinary artistic achievement of a man known primarily for the written word. Among the exhibits was a selection of the paintings, drawings and sketches that Tolkien produced when writing The Lord of the Rings. Originally intended by him purely for his personal pleasure and reference, after such an overwhelmingly positive response by people to Tolkien the Artist it seemed fitting to finally reunite this art with the words it enhances, and we are delighted that in so doing it will allow people to enjoy this masterpiece anew.’
The Hobbit was first published in 1937 and The Lord of the Rings in 1954–5. Each has since gone on to become a beloved classic of literature and an international bestseller translated into more than 70 languages, collectively selling more than 150,000,000 copies worldwide.
The Lord of the Rings, illustrated by the author, will be published subsequently in translation around the world.
The awesome folks over at BudK have let us know that The Gauntlet of Sauron is now in-stock and ready for purchase. This thing is super cool looking; if you’re into prop replicas, this one will look amazing in your collection.
You can snag this right now for $349 from the BudK website.
Here is the full product description from United Cutlery:
A handmade, fully functional actor-scale reproduction of the gauntlet worn by the Dark Lord Sauron in The Fellowship of the Ring. Strictly limited to 1000 pieces worldwide, each one is presented with a wood wall display featuring a Sauron graphic motif. Crafted of genuine leather and iron, the gauntlet features more than 35 plate mail parts with an iron black finish and Intaglio surface engraving. Includes the One Ring with inscription, crafted in gold-plated metal.
Last year during Comic-Con at Home our friends at Weta Workshop launched the Classic Series. They’ve now added the first statue from The Hobbit Trilogy with a very requested version of this character. Who is the character? None other than Galadriel herself. This stunning version of Galadriel comes from the White Council sequence during The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Fans can pre-order Galadriel right now for $349, with her expected to ship sometime during September of this year.
We’ve once again teamed up with our awesome friends over at Star Ace Toys to look at one of their Defo-Real The Lord of the Rings series statues. What are we looking at today? None other than the Lord of the Rings himself, Sauron. This Sauron, unlike the other pieces in this series so far, does have some polystone aspects. He’s pretty darn detailed, solid paints, and he looks awesome. You can get him right now for $90, from places like our friends at Sideshow Collectibles.
Middle-earth fans will not want to miss this amazing book from artist Jay Johnstone – Tolkienography: Isildur’s Bane & Iconic Interpretations (with commentary by Thomas Honegger).
It’s an amazing volume, filled with rich, luminous artwork. It was reviewed in the latest edition of theJournal of Inkling Studies (Volume 10, issue 2); here’s a little of what writer Lance A. Green had to say:
Tolkienography invites a deep immersion in Tolkien’s myth through the artwork of Jay Johnstone, who has been painting Tolkien-themed illustrations for about thirty years. Together with Thomas Honegger’s commentary, Tolkienography offers a novel artistic rendering of Tolkien’s sub-creation, provoking new interpretations of its characters and essential themes. Printed with colourful clarity, the styles and techniques of Johnstone’s pieces are different enough to avoid any redundancy for the viewer. Colours, spacing, and characters are varied with each turn of the page, as are the painting techniques, which range from more contemporary styles to those mirroring medieval forms, including frescos and Byzantine iconography. Johnstone’s oils and charcoal works certainly capture the imagination: the charcoal and chalk of the Council of Elrond (25), the oil on canvas of Isildur’s death in the river Anduin (35, 39), and the binding of Melkor (41) all wonderfully convey character and scene. An immense oil and gold-leaf rendering of Gandalf atop Shadowfax riding into Helm’s Deep (49–50) is one of the most striking paintings in the book, afforded two full pages in order to capture its immensity. Yet the artwork that crowns and guides Tolkienography is the Byzantine-styled iconographic paintings of Tolkien’s characters.
Lance A. Green, Journal of Inkling Studies Vol 10 Issue 2
The Journal is published by Edinburgh University Press; you can find more of the article here. If you’d like your own copy of Johnstone’s beautiful book, don’t delay – it’s a limited print of 500 copies! At only £45 – and signed by the artist! – it really is a steal for such a spectacular book. You can order it – and see more art from Johnstone – at his website, here.
We’re excited to bring you an EXCLUSIVE first look at the new Gandalf the Grey Crown Series figure by the awesome folks at Asmus Toys.
Right now we don’t have any information on price, but you can see from these fantastic shots that this figure is going to be amazing. It looks like the likeness to Sir Ian McKellen’s wizard is pretty darn spot on, and the goodies you get with him are super detailed. We hope you enjoy these shots; when we get all the information on Gandalf we will pass it on. We do not want you to miss a chance to add this amazing figure to your collection!
