Tolkien's World

Alan Lee is an artist celebrated for his illustrations in classic literature. His work includes "Black Ships Before Troy," "The Hobbit Sketchbook," and "The Mirrorstone." He often illustrates epic tales and fantasy stories.

John Howe is an artist and author, widely known for his fantasy encyclopedia and the Middle-earth art book, Cuaderno de viaje de la Tierra Media. He also wrote Against Venice.

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa in 1892 and raised in England after his mother brought him home at age three. Orphaned before he was thirteen — his mother died a devout Catholic convert — Tolkien went on to study Old and Middle English, Germanic languages, Welsh, and Finnish at Oxford. He graduated in 1915, married Edith Bratt before shipping out to the Western Front, and fought in the Battle of the Somme. Nearly all of his closest friends were killed. He contrac...

Michael Hague (1948–2026) was an American illustrator best known for his richly detailed reimaginings of classic children's literature, including The Wind in the Willows, The Wizard of Oz, The Hobbit, Peter Pan and the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen. Born in Los Angeles to English parents, he trained at the Art Center College of Design and got his start illustrating for Cricket magazine before his 1980 edition of The Wind in the Willows established him as a leading interpreter of childre...