A Middle-Earth Album

New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1979. Beautiful pictorial inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" fantasy saga. A series of paintings by Joan Wyatt are all reproduced in this portrait album for the first time. Beautiful full page color! Each painting is highlighted with an authoritative explanation by Jessica Yates, Secretary to the Tolkien Society in Great Britain. 64 pages. Wonderful paintings of The Lord of the Rings. The artist followed Tolkiens descriptions faithfully. The paintings are mainly sweeping landscapes, giving us Rivendel, Minas Tirith, the Balrog, Helm's Deep and Issengard, to name a few. The paintings are beautifully done and compliments the books nicely. Some of the best Middle Earth artwork I have ever seen. Tolkien art at the time of publication was dominated by the Hildebrandt brothers calendars, which I heard best described as looking like "wax work still-lifes." Ms. Wyatt's paintings are light years removed from that kind of art. She works with a more muted palette and her paintings are lively and full of motion. I especially like her version of Rivendell and the Hobbits' dinner at Tom Bombadil's house. The paintings in this book are quite distinct from the more recent interpretaions done by Tim Nasmith, John Howe, or Alan Lee but I think make an excellent addition to any serious Middle Earth collection. Rare collectible book. A must for any Tolkien fan. Book is fine except for the four corners are slightly bent outward. Inside pages are as new. Dust jacket is bumped and rubbed on top and bottom of spine and on the front cover outside corners and the top edge. Rear cover top right edge has a 1/2" tear and 2" bumped and rubbed on top edge and the bottom edge has a 1" slight bump with a 1/8" tear. A light 2" crease and three 1" creases are on rear cover. . First Edition. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Very Good. Folio - over 12" - 15" tall.