The History of The Hobbit by John D Rateliff (2007) - a review

John D Rateliff. The History of The Hobbit - Two volumes: Part One: Mr Baggins; Part 2: Return to Bag End. HarperCollins: London, 2007. pp. xxxix; 905.

It is long overdue that I said something about how much I have enjoyed and learned from John D Rateliff's two volume A History of the Hobbit - which is The Hobbit equivalent of Christopher Tolkien's History of Middle Earth series. 

So here it is!

I have owned this book for a long time, since shortly after its publication; and have frequently referred to it. 

But until recently I never sat-down and went-through the two volumes from beginning to end; although, even now, I have not read the whole thing - there is a lot in it. 

In explaining the delay; I can only suppose that I must have been (unconsciously) holding-back from expressing an overview due to the partial, rather random and scattered, nature of my acquaintance. 

The book is structured around the earliest known and developing drafts of The Hobbit; the later (1947) modifications of (especially) the Gollum scene, to bring it into line with the plot of The Lord of the Rings; the 1960 partial and (I am pleased to say) abandoned attempt to rewrite The Hobbit in the style of Lord of the Rings - and various other relevant and interesting texts such as real and putative sources. 

Rateliff provides copious explanatory notes on Tolkien's drafts; but also - and these I liked best of all - a series of short essays; in which he provides many kinds of background information. 

These background essays range very widely; for instance relating the drafts to Tolkien's other works, Tolkien's languages (and other languages), to folklore and fairy tale, and to other (especially earlier) fantasy authors such as George Macdonald, and Lord Dunsany (on whom Rateliff is particularly an expert).   

I found many of these essays to be absolutely fascinating, and recommend them strongly even to those who are not especially interested in the process by which The Hobbit got written and modified. 

Some can be read pretty much in isolation; for instance in Part 1 there are essays on races such as dwarves, trolls, elves, giants, goblins, wolves and eagles. In Part 2 there are dragons (and dragon sickness), the thrush, the Arkenstone, ravens, and the nature of Bolg (the goblin king). 

And that is just a sample of the topics - there are a good deal more. 

What makes The History of the Hobbit a book I greatly appreciate owning, is the almost inexhaustible range and depth of Rateliff's scholarship - such that every re-read leads to a previously un-noticed discovery. 

Equally important is Rateliff's enthusiasm-for and enjoyment-of The Hobbit in all its unique quality - which shines throughout the whole production. 

Altogether, for me The History of the Hobbit is among the top-ten of books written about Tolkien's works - and is the best of all books about The Hobbit.