I read Tolkien’s “Canon”, that is, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion, every year about Christmas. So also this year.
There is said so much about this book already, so instead of adding more non-interesting chatter to the World, I’d rather again this year show off my latest acquisition to my Hobbit collection: The annotated Hobbit:
This is a true treasure for Hobbit fans. In addition to the actual text, it contains tons of information, like the contemporary context for the book, different versions and updates among the many editions, possible inspirations and related texts, fun facts, illustrations from Hobbit variants of the World,
notes on the meaning of names and places, and so much more.
It even contains the full text of The Quest of Erebor, that was meant as an appendix for The Lord of the Rings, but was cut before its release.
This is the revised and expanded version of The Annotated Hobbit. We owe great thanks to Douglas A. Anderson who must have gone to extremes while researching for this edition.
This book is greatly recommended for those who enjoy being immersed in footnotes, distractions, and fun facts while reading. Ah, that would be the typical Tolkien fan, I guess.
It is another great addition to my ever growing list of Hobbits.
Tags: Douglas A. Anderson, Hobbit, Tolkien