However Baynes also brought elements of her own creativity to the task. Throughout the course of the project, Tolkien was meticulous in his instructions to her. ‘It’s important to be able to bring this into public ownership’, says Dr Fletcher, ‘where we can share it through exhibitions and make it available for study.’īut as well as giving scholars the opportunity to understand more about Tolkien’s thought processes and inspirations, it also offers valuable insight into the work of Pauline Baynes, ‘a notable artist in her own right.’ Baynes was the only approved artist to illustrate Tolkien’s works during his lifetime, and following an introduction in 1949, she also went on to work with C S Lewis’ on his Narnia books – a project for which she is arguably considered more famous. at latitude of Oxford’, while elsewhere he jots: ‘(1400 miles ) is about latitude of Jerusalem.’ The annotations were to be used by Baynes to understand the changing landscapes and environment, and to ensure that her depictions of flora and fauna accurately represented the world he had created in his own mind.įollowing its acquisition by the Bodleian Library, the map now is now part of the largest collection of original Tolkien manuscripts and drawings in the world – an impressive 580 boxes of archival material in total. Tolkien’s geographical notes, for instance, tell us that ‘Hobbiton is assumed to be approx. His annotations were written in pencil and green ink, and he instructed Baynes on everything from topography, to creatures, climate and heraldry. ‘This map shows us just how specific he was in his conceptions of this world – it wasn’t just dreamt out of nothing’, says Dr Fletcher. Tolkien was at pains to ensure that everything was drawn accurately. This map shows us just how specific he was in his conceptions of this world – it wasn’t just dreamt out of nothing.
This rare piece of Tolkien ephemera captures many of the same preoccupations, and provides direct insight into the author’s creative imagination, his conception of Middle-earth, and its relationship to the real world.īased on earlier designs by Tolkien’s son Christopher, the map was extracted from an edition of The Lord of the Rings in the late 1960s, and served as a working document – used by Tolkien and illustrator Pauline Baynes to develop a new poster depicting Middle-earth. ‘Whether it was Piers Ploughman or Beowulf, it was an important medieval motif: the question of how different landscapes, real or imagined, actual or symbolic, might relate to one another.’ ‘The whole idea of place was very important to him, and to the kind of early literature in which he was interested’, explains Dr Christopher Fletcher, Keeper of Special Collections at the Bodleian Library. The acquisition was made possible thanks to generous support from the V&A Purchase Grant Fund, the Kenneth Rose Fund and the Friends of the Bodleian.įor Tolkien, maps played a central role in storytelling, and in enriching the authenticity of his imagined world. The Bodleian Library has recently acquired a rare, annotated map of Middle-earth, the fantasy world setting for J R R Tolkien’s novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
0 kommentar(er)
