The first I heard of it was this mention in the interview with David Braun of HarperCollins that I posted today in the Children of Húrin thread:
I quickly found this link:TL: Will there be made a box set combining the Hobbit with the History of the Hobbit?
DB: Yes. September.
http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/his ... obbit2.htm
It is not available for pre-order at amazon.com (though the May 8, 2007 publication date is listed):History of the creation of the book
First I will try and show a history of events in the creation of this book, going from the initial beginning to the latest news. It is very difficult to trace back any information at all, but I expect all info to appear once the book is published, still here is what we already know.
It's my understanding the writing of this book was first delegated to Taum Santoski (an American who had ties to the Marquette collection where the manuscripts are). I know he was working on it way back in the 1980s. Important to know, the task was actually delegated to him by Christopher Tolkien, who decided not to do The Hobbit when he took up the History of Middle-earth.
Santoski died from cancer in 1991 (an early, tragic death), and the History of the Hobbit was then delegated to John Rateliff, who also had ties to Marquette. We see a first reference about the book in a paper given by John D. Rateliff given in 2004, published in 2006 where he makes reference to a chapter of the upcoming book. This was the only sign we had the project was still ongoing. The only interview I've ever seen with Rateliff on the net is here.
Here is Rateliff's description (from the interview above) of the contents of the History of the Hobbit:
“The big project, which I've been working on for years and will finally be sending to the publisher near the end of this year, is a book called The History of The Hobbit . It's rather along the lines of Christopher Tolkien's editions that make up the History of Middle-Earth series (which I highly recommend if you haven't read them): an edition of the original manuscript of The Hobbit with extensive commentary on how Mr. Baggins' story fits into Tolkien's legendarium. It's a big book filled with the entire text of Tolkien's first draft, along with short essays about everything from rings of invisibility or Tolkien's spiders to a detailed account of just when Tolkien wrote the book (which can actually be reconstructed from available evidence to within a month or two on either end). I hope people will like it when it finally sees the light of day.”
What makes this book especially interesting is that it has the personal blessing of Christopher Tolkien. Before the reading copy was sent to the publisher, it was submitted first to Christopher Tolkien to comment (May 4, 2006 blog entry).
<snip>
The Contents of the book
The History of the Hobbit presents for the first time, in two volumes, the complete unpublished text of the original manuscript of J.R.R.Tolkien’s The Hobbit, his draft of the revision of the Gollum encounter for the second edition, and the fragment of what, if he'd completed it, would have been the third edition of 1960 (a very small amount of which he did use for the actual third edition of 1966), accompanied by John Rateliff's lively and informative account of how the book came to be written and published. As well as recording the numerous changes made to the story both before and after publication, it examines - chapter-by chapter - why those changes were made and how they reflect Tolkien's ever growing concept of Middle-earth.
It provides extensive commentary on the appearance in THE HOBBIT of elements that had already appeared in his earlier 'Silmarillion' writings and the ways in which Bilbo's story draws from the already existing legendarium (and of course ultimately contributed greatly to it). This new book includes many little-known illustrations and previously unpublished maps for The Hobbit by Tolkien himself.
Like Christopher Tolkien’s The History of The Lord of the Rings before it, this is a thoughtful yet exhaustive examination of one of the most treasured stories in English literature. Long overdue for a classic book now celebrating 70 years in print, this companion edition offers fascinating new insights for those who have grown up with this enchanting tale, and will delight those who are about to enter Bilbo's round door for the first time.
The book will be published in two volumes, probably first apart (with one month period in between) and probably later put together in a box (who knows a nice limited edition to celebrate 70 years The Hobbit).
THE HISTORY OF THE HOBBIT: Volume One: Mr Baggins
Includes the first part of the complete original unpublished manuscript version of ‘The Hobbit’ and previously unpublished and rarely-seen maps and illustrations by Tolkien. This volume is announced for 08 May 2007.
THE HISTORY OF THE HOBBIT: Volume Two: Return to Bag-End
This second volume picks up Bilbo Baggins’ story half-way through his journey and chronicles how, after much adversity, he must still face the mighty dragon, Smaug, carry out the burglary for which he has been recruited, and return safely home to Bag-End. This volume is announced for 04 June 2007.
Amazon link
It is, however, available for pre-order at amazon.co.uk:
Amazon UK link
