Tolkien's lost paintings cast new light on Middle Earth

[emad]

The Times
By Jack Malvern, Arts Reporter



Illustrations cut from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings against the wishes of the author more than 50 years ago have been restored in the new publications. Tolkien’s painting of three trolls gathered by a campfire as Bilbo Baggins hides in a bush was one of 20 colour pictures that the author wanted to include in the 1937 first edition of The Hobbit, but it was excised because the publisher deemed it too expensive.

Some colour pictures were later printed in the second edition, but the trolls painting was never included in any edition.

The picture, which shows the trolls turning to stone as the sun rises behind them, will appear in The Hobbit for the first time on October 18.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy has also been restored to include folding maps and other features that were considered by publishers to be too esoteric. The new version, costing £100, will also iron out more than 400 errors that have crept in over the years.

More:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,173-1286711,00.html