The time has come for another roundup of what to look forward to, Tolkien-wise, in the coming months.

First of all, let’s look at what’s coming from Houghton Mifflin, Tolkien’s American publisher. On the Spring list, still to come is Tom Shippey’s book J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century $26.00 hardcover (ISBN 061812764X), due to start appearing in bookstores around the third week of April; the one-volume movie tie-in edition of The Lord of the Rings, hardcover $38.00 (ISBN 0618129014), trade paperback $20.00 (ISBN 0618129022)–these probably won’t show up until the end of May; and then there is the Second Edition of The Silmarillion, hardcover $28.00 (ISBN 0618135049) trade paperback $14.00 (0618126988), which should appear in stores in the second week of April. (This Second Edition of The Silmarillion is basically the familiar version, with some typos corrected, and a one page "Preface to the Second Edition" by Christopher Tolkien, together with a portion of J. R. R. Tolkien’s long 1951 letter to Milton Waldman, reprinted from Letters.)

In May, there will be two more audios, an abridged reading of Roverandom (ISBN 0618127658, $15.00), and an unabridged reading of three of Tolkien’s short stories, "Farmer Giles of Ham," "Leaf by Niggle," and "Smith of Wootton Major," issued under the title Farmer Giles of Ham and Other Stories (ISBN 0618114807 $15.00). Both tapes are read by Derek Jacobi.

For the Fall, Houghton Mifflin has new editions of the three volume paperbacks of The Lord of the Rings, with movie tie-in covers. These will be available in a boxed format too, and will probably come out in September.

There will be a new hardcover edition of Unfinished Tales, and a "digest sized" edition of The Hobbit, the latter with cover art by the artist Peter Sis. Expect to see these around September.

And next comes the books we are all really waiting, the visual guide and companion to the movies. These two books are supposed to have a "global laydown date" of November 6th. Here’s the scoop on each of them:

The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring Visual Companion by Jude Fisher
$19.95 hardcover, 72 pp including an 8-page gatefold. 9 x 12 _ .
A guide to the peoples and places of Middle-earth as depicted in Peter Jackson's movie. Mostly visual, with some text, organized into the following sections: History (Last Alliance), Free Peoples (Hobbits, Men, Elves, Dwarves, Istari), Dark Powers (Nazgul, Orcs, Uruk Hai).

The Lord of the Rings Official  Movie Guide by Brian Sibley
Dual Edition: $14.95 paperback and $24.95 hardcover, 120 pp, 8 _ x 11.
A guide to the filmmakers and actors who have labored for years to create these films. Includes some behind the scenes, up close and personal stuff.

In England, HarperCollins published in January a new paperback edition of Tree and Leaf, now including Tolkien’s poem "The Homecoming of Beohrtnoth, Beohrthelm’s Son." And the second omnibus, containing volumes six through nine, from the History of Middle-earth series is due out in April, The History of The Lord of the Rings Deluxe Edition (hardcover, £99.99). Re-issues of The Hobbit and The Silmarillion are coming as well. And HarperCollins will also be doing the movie tie-in books discussed above, also in November.

This year’s regular Tolkien Calendars (for the year 2002) will be published both in England and in America by HarperCollins. There will be two formats available, The Fellowship of the Ring Wall Calendar (ISBN 0066211549, $14.99), and The Fellowship of the Ring Desk Diary (ISBN 0066211530, $17.00). Oddly, these calendars will not highlight scenes from the film, but instead will include thirteen new paintings of scenes from The Lord of the Rings by acclaimed Tolkien-artist Ted Nasmith. (The Desk Diary looks like it will have additional line drawings.) Look for them to be in stores around August.

But there will be movie-tie in calendars, with scenes from the first film. Cedco Publishing Company has announced four types of calendars, all due out in August. These include a Locker Calendar, 7 x 10 inches, (ISBN 076834493X, $9.99), a Datebook, about 6 x 7 inches, hardcover and wirebound (ISBN 0768343765 $12.99), a Student Planner, 7 x 9 inches (ISBN 0768345197, $10.99), and a Daily Boxed Calendar, presumably in one of those page-a-day styles (ISBN 0768344603, $11.99)

The book Hobbits, Elves and Wizards: The Wonders and Worlds of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, by Michael N. Stanton, originally announced for February from St. Martin’s Press, has now been rescheduled for August. It will be a hardcover (ISBN 0312238266, $19.95).

And the academic publisher, Greenwood Press, has another Tolkien-related title coming. It’s called Women among the Inklings: Gender, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams, and is by Candace Fredrick and Sam McBride (ISBN 0313312451, price not set, due to be published August 30, 2001). The publisher’s blurb reads as follows:

Coming this Spring from Running Press are some reissues of old books. A Tolkien Treasury (formerly A Tolkien Scrapbook), edited by Alida Becker, is a book for fans, with artwork and recipes and puzzles, along with some critical articles. It originally came out in the 1970s, so it’s a bit out of date, and it’s too bad they aren’t doing a revised and updated version. Besides the main edition, as a Courage promotional book (ISBN 0762409606, $17.98), look for the Miniature Edition, 2 _ x 3 _ inches (ISBN 0762409800, $4.95).

Next there is A Hobbit’s Journal, which is a parchment-styled book, mostly blank, but with illustrations running throughout, and lots of room in which to writes your own personal thoughts and reflections. This was also originally done in the 70s. The reprint should be in stores now (ISBN 0762409541, $5.95).

Running Press is also reissuing in hardcover the other biography of Tolkien, J. R. R. Tolkien: Architect of Middle Earth, by Daniel Grotta, with illustrations by the Brothers Hildebrandt. This biography, originally published twenty-five years ago, was done by an American, without access to Tolkien’s papers, and it stands in the shadows of the much superior authorized biography by Humphrey Carpenter.

Illustrations by Greg and Tim Hildebrandt will be featured in a new book coming in July from Watson-Guptill, Greg and Tim Hildebrandt: The Tolkien Years, with text by Gregory Hildebrandt, Jr. It will be a large-sized art book, with 56 color illustrations, 97 sketches, and 127 photographs, detailing the evolution of the Tolkien art that appeared in several calendars in the 1970s. It will be published in paperback (ISBN 0823051242, $24.95), and in a special signed, limited and numbered slip-cased edition (ISBN 0823051234, $125.00).

And that wraps up the current things I know about. I suspect we’ll have quite a Fall, bookwise.

--Turgon