When Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton.” So began The Fellowship of the Ring, the first book in JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which turns 70 this month. He had started writing – and illustrating – it in 1937, the year The Hobbit was first published and became a runaway success. His publishers
The Bigger Picture: Tolkien classic marks major anniversary
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