Now Everyone Can See Tolkien's Annotated Map of Middle-Earth in All Its Glory

Last year, a map of Middle-earth, annotated by Tolkien himself, was unearthed in a copy of a book owned by illustrator Pauline Baynes. The map’s now been purchased by Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries, who very kindly put a full, authorized, version of the full map online, which is sure to be pored over by fans forever and ever.

You can actually see it right here. Tolkien’s annotations appearing in green and in pencil:

Oxford’s a good home for this map. Not just because of Tolkien’s real-world connections to the place, but because, according to the map, “Hobbiton is assumed to be approx. at [the] latitude of Oxford.” It will be joining the largest collection of Tolkien manuscripts and drawings in the world.

[Bodleian Libraries]