Press Release for the The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien published

Press Release
The Silmarillion
by J.R.R. Tolkien
edited by Christopher Tolkien
illustrated by Ted Nasmith
• About the Book
• About the Illustrator
• A Conversation with Ted Nasmith
Updated Edition of Tolkien's Bestseller Features 26 New Paintings
Ted Nasmith on U.S. Tour in October to Promote The Silmarillion
About the Book
Revised and expanded to include twenty-six breathtaking new full-color paintings (fortyeight paintings in all) by renowned Tolkien artist Ted Nasmith, Houghton Mifflin's new
illustrated edition of The Silmarillion is the most stunning ever published. Nasmith will visit
several U.S. cities in October to discuss the new edition of this magnificent but
underappreciated epic.
The Silmarillion tells the oldest tales of Middle-earth: of its creation and of the ancient
histories of the Elves and the coming of Men into the world. It also chronicles the early
battles between good and evil that foreshadow the great conflict in The Lord of the Rings.
(The Lord of the Rings celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of its original U.S. publication on
October 21.)
Tolkien worked on The Silmarillion for most of his life, beginning it long before The Hobbit or
The Lord of the Rings, and it was published posthumously in 1977 to international acclaim.
With Christopher Tolkien's close collaboration, The Silmarillion has now been completely
reset, using the text of the second edition.
About the Illustrator
Ted Nasmith is an internationally recognized illustrator, renowned for his photorealistic
illustrations of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fiction. He was born in Goderich, Ontario, and
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upon graduating from art school was immediately hired by a studio specializing in
architectural renderings. This became Nasmith's career focus while he produced a growing
body of Tolkien-inspired illustrations, created out of his abiding love of the books, which he
first encountered as a teenager and art student.
His ambition was to create what he saw as quasi-classical paintings for Tolkien's books
based on his sense of the importance of the sweeping landscape vistas so eloquently and
centrally featured in Tolkien's fantasy, as well as on the author's unique evocations of
faeries.
The early 1970s saw the publication of many illustrated calendars, which coincided with
Nasmith's ambition to have his work reach a wide audience someday, and this hope was
fulfilled in the late eighties with his first published calendars. In 1990 his first full calendar
was published, followed by others in quick succession, and in the mid-nineties his sketches
for The Silmarillion were accepted for the first-ever illustrated edition of that great work of
fantasy. He has continued to create many new Tolkien-inspired paintings, including a series
of three calendars celebrating The Lord of the Rings, and this growing body of artwork has
come to be appreciated as some of the finest of its kind.
Ted Nasmith is proud to offer readers a more lavish vision of the saga of The Silmarillion in a
new, expanded illustrated edition.
A Conversation with Ted Nasmith
Were you exposed to art when you were young? Did you dream of becoming the
artist you are today?
I was exposed to book illustrations and movies and TV when I was young, and I lived in
France for three years as a toddler. I don't remember dreaming of being an artist in
particular, but I was a dreamer! It was mostly upon entering high school that I was made
aware of the obvious: that I was meant to draw professionally.
While studying art, what artistic medium were you drawn to? Is there a particular
piece of advice that helped you the most?
I was drawn to painting in tempera mostly, and I had a natural gift for realism. As to advice,
a key bit of it came later, from my first employer: Always give your clients a little more than
they expect.
What influence did J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings have on you and your art?
Clearly Tolkien's Lord of the Rings had a major impact; it tends to grab you like no other
work of fantasy. But if you want specifics, it steered me away from more commercial art,
like automotive illustration and architectural rendering, and toward fantasy and a look based
on my favorite fine artists of landscape and fairy tales.
What gave you the idea to have your Tolkien art published?
It was seeing the annual Tolkien calendars. Once I realized that they were publishing art by
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anyone who could reasonably expect to be published, it was my ambition to get my work
into a calendar. After a few unsuccessful tries in the seventies and mid-eighties, I was
contacted about meeting someone from Tolkien's publisher at Worldcon (Ottawa, 1985, I
think) in order to assess my work. That led to its being included in the 1987 Tolkien
Calendar.
How do your accomplishments measure up to your own objectives?
I feel I have developed my visions of Middle-earth to a high degree of sophistication, and
I'm happy I've had as many opportunities to create that art as I have. I want to continue
this as long as I can and my interest holds. There's a sense that the ideas will not run out
anytime soon and that I've been fairly consistent in my interpretations over the years, so
there's a continuity aspect I am careful about. I'm glad I've been able to devote attention to
both The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, each having its own special qualities.
What's your favorite piece?
I'm not sure there's any one I love above the others, but I am aware of those pieces I don't
think were successful enough, and that spurs me to hope I'll have another go at them in
future.
How do you feel about your new work in the updated Silmarillion?
I think it is some of my best Tolkien art yet. The original illustrated edition from 1998 was a
great accomplishment for me, but we were rather limited by the technical requirements. We
felt that if the text were printed on paper that could support four-color reproductions at any
place, we could add a good number of new works. Having already considered illustration
subjects that were not included in the '98 edition, I began my selection of images by
revisiting many of those works and then selecting other new images as needed or desired. I
feel greatly privileged to have used my talents to return more fully to this magnificent but
underappreciated epic.
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