Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth at the Morgan Library & Museum

by AFineLyne, The Morgan Library

 

 

 

J. R. R. Tolkien (1892–1973), Bilbo comes to the Huts of the Raft-elves, July 1937, watercolor, pencil, white body color. Bodleian Libraries, MS. Tolkien Drawings 29. © The Tolkien Estate Limited 1937.

The exhibition Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth will open at The Morgan Library & Museum on January 25th.

J. R. R. Tolkien (1892–1973), Conversation with Smaug, July 1937, black and colored ink, watercolor, white body color, pencil. Bodleian Libraries, MS. Tolkien Drawings 30. © The Tolkien Estate Limited 1937.

The exhibition will be the most extensive public display of original Tolkien material for several generations. Drawn from the collections of the Tolkien Archive at the Bodleian Library (Oxford), Marquette University Libraries (Milwaukee), the Morgan, and private lenders, the exhibition will include family photographs and memorabilia, Tolkien’s original illustrations, maps, draft manuscripts, and designs related to The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” With these words the Oxford professor J.R.R. Tolkien ignited a fervid spark in generations of readers. From the children’s classic The Hobbit to the epic The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien’s adventurous tales of hobbits and elves, dwarves and wizards have introduced millions to the rich history of Middle-earth. Going beyond literature, Tolkien’s Middle-earth is a world complete with its own languages and histories. Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth celebrates the man and his creation.

Related programming will include lectures, gallery talks, adult workshops, family programs and a multidisciplinary symposium.

Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth is also a richly illustrated book, available at The Morgan.

Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth will be on view from January 25 through May 12, 2019 at The Morgan Library & Museum, 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, NYC.