Found J.R.R. Tolkien Map Reveals Middle-Earth's Earthly Inspirations

Feast your eyes upon a map of Middle-Earth in its early stages of infancy, marked up and annotated by the hand of the creator himself, J.R.R Tolkien. The Guardian reported earlier today that the map was found loose, inside a copy of Lord of the Rings belonging to the map’s illustrator, Pauline Baynes. The article states that Baynes had removed the annotated copy from another edition of the novel when she began working on her color copy of the map that would go on to be published with the book in 1970. Baynes’ copy of the novel was found at a book shop called Blackwell’s Rare Books in Oxford, home to the oldest university in the English-speaking world where Tolkien once upon a time taught English and Literature. Blackwell is currently exhibiting the map in Oxford and selling it at a price of 60,000 pounds, which comes out to about $92,000 US. According to The Guardian, the author’s notes suggest Belgrade, Cyprus, and Jerusalem as points of reference in the map, and that “the city of Ravenna is the inspiration behind Minas Tirith,” the heavily fortified tower and capital of Gondor. Blackwell’s Sian Wainwright is quote saying, “The map shows how completely obsessed he was with the details. Anyone else interfered at their peril.” It certainly paid off.

Photograph: Blackwell’s Rare Books

Related:

Architects Band Together to Build Real-Life 'Lord of the Rings' City

Frodo Walks More Than 1,350 Miles in 'Lord of the Rings'

'Game of Thrones' Google Map Makes Navigating Westeros a Breeze

Mountains and Skyscrapers Made from Maps and Books