''The Annotated Hobbit: The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is an edition of

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

's novel ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ''N ...

'' with a commentary by Douglas A. Anderson. It was first published in 1988 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first American publication of ''The Hobbit'', and by Unwin Hyman of London.

Summary

According to the editor, ''The Annotated Hobbit'' is a referenced novel where in the margins the "annotator adds commentary". The edition includes also more than 150 black-and-white illustrations from foreign editions and some that were drawn by Tolkien himself. This allows for breadth of understanding of the ''Hobbit'', hence contributing to the overall understanding of

Middle-earth Middle-earth is the fictional setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the '' Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf''. Middle-earth is ...

Purpose of publication

The main purpose behind the publication of ''The Annotated Hobbit'' was to allow readers to understand "how Tolkien worked as a writer, what his influences and interests were, and how these relate to the invented world of Middle-earth." Moreover, this also allowed for the publication of rare poems written by Tolkien (several of which were previously unpublished). This may help the reader improve the understanding of the culture that surrounds ''The Hobbit'' and Middle-earth in general.

Editions

In 2002, after the initial publication of ''The Annotated Hobbit'', a "Revised and Expanded Edition" was published. This version included maps and colour paintings. It also provided newer sources and greater understanding of Tolkien's legendarium. The appendix includes a chapter "The Quest of Erebor" about Gandalf's motivation to join Bilbo to the dwarven company. Another British edition was published in 2003 by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...

of London.

Translations

Translations into other languages include the following (translated titles deviating from the original English version have been explained): * French: * German: * Italian: ** First edition: ** Second edition: * Japanese: * Spanish: * Polish: * Hungarian: * Chinese:

Reception

''The Annotated Hobbit'' has been called "the most informative edition" of ''The Hobbit''. Shippey noted that the earliest version of Tolkien's poem "The Hoard" from 1923 was best accessible in this book. ''The Annotated Hobbit'' won the 1990 Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in " Inkling studies" by the

Mythopoeic Society The Mythopoeic Society (MythSoc) is a non-profit organization devoted to the study of mythopoeic literature, particularly the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and C. S. Lewis, all members of The Inklings, an informal group of write ...

References