When J.R.R. Tolkien wrote HOBBIT he had become an accomplished amateur artist, and he was keen to contribute visually to the work. The finished book contained eight black and white drawings, five colour plates, two maps and his own jacket design. But behind these finished works there also lay a multitude of sketches and drawings, draft maps and runic designs, demonstrating Tolkien's careful planning and artistry. Indeed, every major artist who has illustrated the book subsequently has been influenced by Tolkien's own powerful visual conceptions.THE ART OF THE HOBBITcollects for the first time the complete surviving artwork that helped to underpin such a remarkable work of fiction. Written and edited by Tolkien experts Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull, authors of the acclaimed biographyTOLKIEN: ARTIST AND ILLUSTRATORthis book uses brand new digital scans from the Bodleian Library in Oxford to show off Tolkien's paintings in more vivid detail than ever before, making this a worthy and lasting tribute to a largely overlooked side of Tolkien's genius.