Illustration and design The Hobbit

runes , english letter values assigned them tolkien, used in several of original illustrations , designs hobbit.

even maps, of tolkien proposed five, considered , debated. wished thror s map tipped in (that is, glued in after book has been bound) @ first mention in text, , moon-letters (almost identical anglo-saxon runes) on reverse seen when held light. in end cost, shading of maps, difficult reproduce, resulted in final design of 2 maps endpapers, thror s map, , map of wilderland, both printed in black , red on paper s cream background.

originally allen & unwin planned illustrate book endpaper maps, tolkien s first tendered sketches charmed publisher s staff opted include them without raising book s price despite cost. encouraged, tolkien supplied second batch of illustrations. publisher accepted of these well, giving first edition ten black-and-white illustrations plus 2 endpaper maps. illustrated scenes were: hill: hobbiton-across-the-water, trolls, mountain path, misty mountains looking west eyrie towards goblin gate, beorn s hall, mirkwood, elvenking s gate, lake town, front gate, , hall @ bag-end. 1 of illustrations full page, , one, mirkwood illustration, required separate plate.

satisfied skills, publishers asked tolkien design dust jacket. project, too, became subject of many iterations , correspondence, tolkien writing disparagingly of own ability draw. runic inscription around edges of illustration phonetic transliteration of english, giving title of book , details of author , publisher. original jacket design contained several shades of various colours, tolkien redrew several times using fewer colours each time. final design consisted of 4 colours. publishers, mindful of cost, removed red sun end black, blue, , green ink on white stock.

the publisher s production staff designed binding, tolkien objected several elements. through several iterations, final design ended author s. spine shows runes: 2 þ (thráin , thrór) runes , 1 d (door). front , covers mirror images of each other, elongated dragon characteristic of tolkien s style stamped along lower edge, , sketch of misty mountains stamped along upper edge.

once illustrations approved book, tolkien proposed colour plates well. publisher not relent on this, tolkien pinned hopes on american edition published 6 months later. houghton mifflin rewarded these hopes replacement of frontispiece (the hill: hobbiton-across-the water) in colour , addition of new colour plates: rivendell, bilbo woke sun in eyes, bilbo comes huts of raft-elves , conversation smaug, features dwarvish curse written in tolkien s invented script tengwar, , signed 2 þ ( th ) runes. additional illustrations proved appealing george allen & unwin adopted colour plates second printing, exception of bilbo woke sun in eyes.

different editions have been illustrated in diverse ways. many follow original scheme @ least loosely, many others illustrated other artists, many translated editions. cheaper editions, particularly paperback, not illustrated except maps. children s book club edition of 1942 includes black-and-white pictures no maps, anomaly.

tolkien s use of runes, both decorative devices , magical signs within story, has been cited major cause popularization of runes within new age , esoteric literature, stemming tolkien s popularity elements of counter-culture in 1970s.