Oxford Acquires Newly-Discovered J.R.R. Tolkien-Annotated Middle-Earth Map from Lord of the Rings

Middle-Earth is currently one of the most well-known landscapes in the fantasy genre because of Peter Jackson's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings novels. However, despite the booming popularity of the novels now, it hadn't always been this way.

It was only in 1969 that The Lord of the Rings was illustrated, while the book had been published way back 1955.

Artist Pauline Baynes was appointed by Tolkien to make the first-ever illustration of the Middle-Earth map and being Tolkien, the author even annotated the map with various geographic information just so Baynes would perfect the map.

Well, in October last year, Baynes' copy of the Tolkien-annotated map had been unearthed. Bayne died in 2008 and Blackwell's Rare Books placed the Tolkien-annotated map on display. Now, Oxford's Bodleian Libraries has acquired the map, which now joins their world-leading collection of Tolkien's manuscripts and scholarship.

In a statement (h/t Entertainment Weekly), Chris Fletcher, Keeper of Special Collections at the Bodleian Libraries, said:

The creation of maps was central to Tolkien's storytelling and this particular map provides a glimpse into the creative process that produced some of the first images of Middle-Earth.

We're delighted to have been able to acquire this map and it's particularly appropriate that we are keeping it in Oxford. Tolkien spent almost the whole of his adult life in the city and was clearly thinking about its geographical significance as he composed elements of the map. It would have been disappointing had it disappeared into a private collection or gone abroad.

Take a look at the extremely-detailed maps:

Image Credit: Bodliean Libraries

Image Credit: Bodliean Libraries

Image Credit: Bodliean Libraries

Tolkien himself studied in Oxford, which is the place where he met The Chronicles of Narnia author C.S. Lewis. Because Tolkien had been so impressed with Baynes' map of his Middle-Earth, he introduced Baynes to Lewis, who then commissioned Baynes to illustrate his Narnia books.

This just adds to the fact that Tolkien is one of the greatest authors of our time. It's probably fate that led Tolkien to Baynes and Baynes to Lewis. Tolkien's dedication to the Middle-Earth map and Baynes' illustrations are now an integral part of literature and film that will forever shape history.