Friday, November 24, 2023

Off-trail Hobbit Illustrations: Chris Riddell

The Puffin Twentieth-Century Collection of Stories (1999), edited by Judith Elkin, is a collections of extracts from 23 children's books, each extract illustrated by a different artist, in varying modes. The Tolkien extract is from the Troll chapter of The Hobbit, and its illustrations are by Chris Riddell. 

The full-page illustration is towards the end of the extract, and depicts Gandalf. 

Here are the Dwarves:

And Bilbo:

And the Trolls:

There are seven illustrations in total, but some are small and minor.  The best of these is that final depiction of a troll:




3 comments:

  1. There is another Puffin book that includes illustrations by Chris Riddell. The Puffin Treasury of Children's Stories (1996) ISBN-0-670-87009-9. The chapter included is "Inside Information" and includes three colour illustrations, including a full-page "Smaug"

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  2. Thanks, Trotter. I didn't know of this one, and am glad to learn of it. I see that the 1997 US version was retitled The Viking Treasury of Children's Stories!

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  3. That illustration of Bilbo looks equal parts Rankin-Bass and the Grinch. Nassty, Precious.

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