J.R.R. 托爾金（J.R.R. Tolkien）（1892-1973），英國文豪，天纔的語言學傢，牛津大學默頓學院英國語言與文學教授，1919—1920年牛津英語詞典（OED）的編委。他以瑰麗的想像和精深的語言，建立瞭一個英語世界的全新神話體係。托爾金的雄心壯誌不在於寫作一個傳奇故事，或一部史詩。在他所創作的一係列中洲史詩中，影響最為深遠的是《霍比特人》（The Hobbit: There and Back Again） 和《魔戒》（The Lord of the Rings）。這兩部巨作被譽為當代奇幻作品的鼻祖，至今已暢銷2.5億餘冊，被翻譯成60餘種語言。美國每年銷售的大約一億本平裝書中，就有四分之一可以追溯到托爾金的作品。《魔戒》被美國亞馬遜網絡書店票選為“兩韆年以來最重要的書”。由托爾金小說改編的電影《指環王》《霍比特人》掀起21世紀奇幻文藝的全麵復興。世界拜倒在他腳下。

吳剛，上海外國語大學副教授，英美文學博士。教文學教翻譯為生，讀文學做翻譯為樂，嗜書如命的永久性文學青年。

Sumptuous, oversized hardback edition of the beloved children's classic, fully illustrated with over 60 watercolour and pencil illustrations by award-winning artist, Alan Lee. J.R.R. Tolkien's great classic work, The Hobbit, celebrated its 60th year of publication (1937) with a gorgeous illustrated edition by artist Alan Lee, winner of the Kate Greenaway medal for illustration, and creator of the fabulously successful Centenary edition of The Lord of the Rings. Containing 22 full colour illustrations depicting key scenes from this all-time classic (scenes such as Gollum and Bilbo, The Wargs, Smaug the Dragon and The Battle of the Five Armies), this beautifully designed volume also includes a wealth of integrated pencil drawings which demonstrate perfectly Alan's genius at work. Alan Lee's work on this book, as well as the illustrated Lord of the Rings, led to him being approached by Peter Jackson to join the film trilogy as Conceptual Artist. The same artistic vision, present in his beautiful paintings and drawings, played a major role in the look of the films, and his work received the ultimate accolade with an Academy Award for Best Art Direction on The Return of the King.