Tolkien is best known for his high fantasy novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings which feature original drawings by the author himself. The fact he created his own maps and illustrations for the fictional world comes as no surprise; Middle Earth was created by Tolkien with its own history, languages, and a clear sense of what the world looked like.
According to the library’s director, Colin B. Bailey, “The Morgan exhibition is your only opportunity in America to see the largest collection ever assembled of J.R.R. Tolkien’s original drawings, manuscripts, and maps. ”
Visitors to the Morgan Library in NY will get the chance to see book manuscripts, hand-drawn maps, original illustrations of Smaug, Sauron’s Dark Tower of Barad-dûr, and much more. Additional to the original artworks, photographs of JRR Tolkien during his childhood will also be available.
Alongside the gorgeous maps and illustrations will be manuscripts that will give us a unique look at Tolkien’s process as a writer and world-creator. His journey into creating the Middle-Earth started as a young man when he allowed himself to become lost in the countryside around him, created a whole new language (that ended up being the extensive mother tongue of the Elves), and envisaging battles and hardships fought by people and creatures with their own rich histories.
If you cannot make it to the exhibition there is a hardback book full of Tolkien’s work and manuscripts- showcasing his inspirations of medieval and mythical stories, his rich and detailed maps, and more.
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Uh, when? For how long? What kind of window do I have to come to New York and see this?