The structure of The Annotated Hobbit is that of The Hobbit with its 19 chapters. The text is accompanied throughout with marginal notes beside the text and commenting on it by the Tolkien scholar Douglas A. Anderson.[1] The edition includes more than 150 black-and-white illustrations from foreign editions and some that were drawn by Tolkien himself, and some rare poems written by Tolkien.[2][3]
On its publication, The Annotated Hobbit was warmly welcomed in Mythlore by Glen GoodKnight, founder of the Mythopoeic Society. He began with the words "What a treasure trove; what a superb delight!"[4] He was pleased by the annotations, from the briefest of definitions through to quotations from letters and entire poems. He specially liked the many illustrations and photographs, commenting that for some readers, the images of dust jackets and translations will be especially interesting. GoodKnight personally found "most of the foreign illustrations ... technically and artistically embarrassing",[4] but even so the "cumulative effect" of the coverage of editions and translations was "rich and fascinating".[4]
More recently, George W. Beahm has called The Annotated Hobbit "the most informative edition" of The Hobbit.[5] The Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey noted that the earliest version of Tolkien's poem "The Hoard" from 1923 was best accessible in this book.[6]The Annotated Hobbit won the 1990 Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in "Inkling studies" by the Mythopoeic Society.[7]
Editions
In 2002, after the initial publication of The Annotated Hobbit, a "Revised and Expanded Edition" was published. This version included maps and colour paintings. It also provided newer sources and greater understanding of Tolkien's legendarium.[2] The appendix includes a chapter "The Quest of Erebor" about Gandalf's motivation to join Bilbo to the dwarven company.[5] Another British edition was published in 2003 by HarperCollins of London.[8]
