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Tolkien Handybook

My mother asked me to make a Christmas gift list, a list of things I would like to get. I was thinking of a Tolkien handybook (Tolkien Encyclopaedia). I know there is a large variety of handybooks, some good and some not so good. I would like to get one that is worth getting, one that has all the right information and a author who knows what he/she is talking about. Does anyone have any suggestions on the ideal book?

I would have PMed someone and asked this question but I think a list of excellent books and a list of books that one should stay away from, will not only be to benefit me but also other Tolkien hanybook searchers.

Best Wishes,
Elsilda

[ November 20, 2003: Message edited by: Elsilda ]

The Complete Tolkien Companion by J.E.A. Tyler is a personal faviourite. it is in depth enough to make up for its lack of pretty shiny pictures [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]

I'm partial to The Complete Guide to Middle-earth by Robert Foster. (An ambitious title!)

Each entry gives references to the Tolkien works in which the subject is found.

I also have a dog-eared and post-it-noted The Atlas of Middle-earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad - a guide to the geography of M-e and the events that happened within geographical areas. Lovely maps!

I would definately second Tyler's Complete Tolkien Companion (very useful in helping to answer those tricky Quiz questions [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]) and Karen Wynn Fonstad's Atlas of Middle-earth.

I found 'A Complete Guide to Middle Earth' very well worth it. It has EVERYTHING and Christopher Tolkien even says that he finds himself in frequent use of it!

A Complete Guide to Middle Earth

There's a new Tolkien guide supposed to come out next spring that sounds fascinating to me: J.R.R. Tolkien Companion (Two Volume Box Set) by Wayne G. Hammond, Christina Scull. Both members of this husband and wife team of librarians have been studying Tolkien for many years and have turned out some carefully researched articles and books. (Hammond's latest was on Tolkien as an illustrator.)

Esilda - This won't help your Christmas dilemma but it sounds like a set of books that will be very interesting for those looking for something further down the line. They take a different approach than either Foster or Tyler. The box set is already available for pre-order on Amazon with this description:

Quote:

Designed to be the essential reference works for all readers and students, these volumes present the most thorough analysis possible of Tolkien's work within the important context of his life.
The Reader's Guide includes brief but comprehensive alphabetical entries on a wide range of topics, including a who's who of important persons, a guide to places and institutions, details concerning Tolkien's source material, information about the political and social upheavals through which the author lived, the importance of his social circle, his service as an infantryman in World War I -- even information on the critical reaction to his work and the "Tolkien cult."

The Chronology details the parallel evolutions of Tolkien's works and his academic and personal life in minute detail. Spanning the entirety of his long life including nearly sixty years of active labor on his Middle-earth creations, and drawing on such contemporary sources as school records, war service files, biographies, correspondence, the letters of his close friend C. S. Lewis, and the diaries of W. H. Lewis, this book will be an invaluable resource for those who wish to gain a complete understanding of Tolkien's status as a giant of twentieth-century literature.

The one drawback here is the price: a whopping $49.00 on Amazon (and that's discounted from the original $70.00). But it is possible to order only the reader's guide (as opposed to the chronology) for about half-price. Anyways it looks interesting and I'm already scraping my pennies together for the purchase.

Child

Well, thank you for all the suggestions! I was thinking earlier about how astonishing Middle-Earth is. Tolkien really is amazing he created a whole world that you actually need handybooks! I just find it so incredible!

The Complete Guide to Middle-earth and The Atlas of Middle-earth get big thumbs up. Sound like I’ll go for one of those two or get my mom to get me The Complete Guide to Middle-earth and my dad to get me The Atlas of Middle-earth [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] (why settle for one when you can beg for both?)!

Child of the 7th Age Sounds like an amazing book maybe I’ll get it for my birthday [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]!

Best Wishes,
Elsilda

Edit: I thought this topic might interest some of you David Day

[ November 21, 2003: Message edited by: Elsilda ]