The Maps of Middle-earth: From Númenor and Beleriand to Wilderland and Middle-earth : Sibley, Brian, Howe, John: Amazon.co.uk: Books

Disappointing

The book has 4 loose maps included with it.They are quite nice, but not suitable for framing due to the fold creases.The book is simply a description of the maps.Very disappointed.

An axiom of Tolkien's philosophy of fantasy was that imaginary worlds should be rigorously self-consistent, so from the earliest days of his work on Middle-earth, he was an assiduous cartographer of its lands and seas. Eventually his maps became grid-lined affairs almost as elaborate as those of the Ordnance Survey. He included two, relatively simple examples as illustrations in 'The Hobbit', and he published three more in 'The Lord of the Rings', the latter meticulously redrawn in black and red ink by his son Christopher. Further maps prepared by Christopher were published after JRRT's death.'The Maps of Middle-earth' includes the four best known of the Tolkiens' productions: the map of Wilderland from 'The Hobbit', the map of the west of Middle-earth from 'The Lord of the Rings', the map of Beleriand from 'The Silmarillion' and the map of Númenor from 'Unfinished Tales'. People hoping for more topographical information than the Tolkiens provided will be disappointed—John Howe's paintings improve on the Tolkiens' maps by rendering them in full colour and by framing them with lavish illustrations, but they don't include any details unwarranted by JRRT or Christopher.Perhaps even more appealing than Howe's maps themselves are the book into which they're tucked. Written by Brian Sibley, familiar to hobbitomanes as someone who has worked on numerous Tolkien projects over the last forty years, this slim, 160-page volume features engaging essays on Tolkien and his invented geography and includes four gazetteers listing all the places named on the maps and explaining their significance in Tolkien's stories. The book is decorated with fifty pencil drawings by Howe, who also contributes brief reflections on his work.Tolkien enthusiasts will know that Howe's maps and Sibley's writings about them have been published before, three of them individually and all four collected together in 2003. The 2024 edition is undoubtedly the best yet, with a significantly longer text and with many more drawings than the one published twenty-one years ago, and with high quality paper that allows Howe's delicate draughtsmanship to be displayed more beautifully than in earlier editions. It's a plus point too that the book is uniform with the current, very handsome editions of other illustrated titles in the Middle-earth bibliography. It's true that at 16.5" x 15.5", Howe's maps are now not quite as spectacular as the glossy, 28.5" x 28.5" posters of the 2003 edition. But the book's happy marriage of Howe's marvellous art and Sibley's genial, expert writing make this a volume that almost anyone who loves Tolkien would enjoy.

Beware! Unfortunately this product is no longer in a slip case as it once was. Maps are no longer glossy as they once were. Maps much smaller then they once were. Changes, but alas, not for the better

Gorgeous maps and interesting detail. Bought another to give as a birthday gift