Douglas Allen Anderson (born December 30, 1959) is an American writer and

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

on the subjects of

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

and

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

literature, specializing in textual analysis of the works of

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

. His 1988 edition of Tolkien's children's book ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ...

'', '' The Annotated Hobbit'', won him a Mythopoeic Award for scholarship.

Biography

Douglas Anderson was born in

Valparaiso, Indiana Valparaiso ( ), colloquially Valpo, is a city in and the county seat of Porter County, Indiana, United States. The population was 34,151 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. History The site of present-day Valparaiso ...

, United States. After becoming friends with him in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

in 1978, he assisted

Humphrey Carpenter Humphrey William Bouverie Carpenter (29 April 1946 – 4 January 2005) was an English biographer, writer, and radio broadcaster. He is known especially for his biographies of J. R. R. Tolkien and other members of the literary society the Inkli ...

with work on the latter's biography of Auden, and with '' The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien''. His first published book was '' The Annotated Hobbit'' (1988), which grew out of a study of

's revisions to the various editions of ''

'' following the publication of ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

''. The book consisted of Anderson's detailed explanations alongside Tolkien's text. A revised and illustrated edition was published in 2002. Anderson's textual studies of ''The Lord of the Rings'' are the core of the

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...

revised American edition of 1987, incorporating various changes made to British editions at Tolkien's direction. He contributed a "Note on the Text" discussing the history of these changes, which was subsequently incorporated into later editions with various minor revisions. With Verlyn Flieger and Michael D. C. Drout, he is a founding editor of ''

Tolkien Studies The works of J. R. R. Tolkien have generated a body of research covering many aspects of his High fantasy, fantasy writings. These encompass ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''The Silmarillion'', along with Tolkien's legendarium, his legendarium t ...

: An Annual Scholarly Review''; the first volume appeared in 2004. Anderson has edited modern editions of works by

authors including Leonard Cline, Kenneth Morris,

Evangeline Walton Evangeline Walton (24 November 1907 – 11 March 1996) was the pen name of Evangeline Wilna Ensley, an American writer of fantasy fiction. She remains popular in North America and Europe because of her “ability to humanize historical and mytho ...

and

William Hope Hodgson William Hope Hodgson (15 November 1877 – 19 April 1918) was an English author. He produced a large body of work, consisting of essays, short fiction, and novels, spanning several overlapping genres including horror fiction, horror, fantasy, fan ...

. He is a visiting lecturer at Signum University. Aside from his editing and Tolkien studies, he is a bookseller, having worked first in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...

, and then in

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. He runs the publishing business Nodens Books, which seeks to revive the work of forgotten authors.

Awards and distinctions

''The Annotated Hobbit'' won the 1990 Mythopoeic Award for scholarship.

Books

; Written * ''J.R.R. Tolkien: A Descriptive Bibliography (Winchester Bibliographies of 20th Century Writers)'' (with

Wayne G. Hammond Wayne Gordon Hammond (born February 11, 1953) is an American scholar known for his research and writings on the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. Together with his wife Christina Scull, a fellow Tolkien scholar, they have jointly won Mythopoeic Scholars ...

), St. Paul's Bibliographies, 1993 * ''Tales Before Tolkien: The Roots of Modern Fantasy'',

Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major American book publisher that is a subsidiary of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. Ballantine was founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. Ballantine was acquired by Random House in ...

, 2003 * ''J.R.R. Tolkien: Interviews, Reminiscences, and Other Essays'',

, 2007 * ''Tales Before Narnia: The Roots of Modern Fantasy and Science Fiction'', Del Ray, 2008, ; Edited * '' The Annotated Hobbit'',

, 1988, revised 2002 * ''The Chalchiuhite Dragon'' by Kenneth Morris, Tom Doherty Associates, 1992 * ''The Lady of Frozen Death and Other Weird Tales'' by Leonard Cline, Necronomicon Press, 1992 * ''The Dragon Path: Collected Tales of Kenneth Morris'', TOR, 1995 * '' The Marvellous Land of Snergs'' by E. A. Wyke-Smith,

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

, 1995 * ''The Life of Sir Aglovale de Galis'', Theclassics Us, 2000 * ''Eyes of the God: The Weird Fiction and Poetry of R. H. Barlow'', Hippocampus Press, 2002 * ''Book of The Three Dragons'' by Kenneth Morris, Cold Spring Press, 2004 * ''

: An Annual Scholarly Review'', Volume 1, 2004 (co-editor), West Virginia University Press, * ''H.P. Lovecraft's Favorite Weird Tales: The Roots of Modern Horror'', Cold Spring Press, 2005 * ''Adrift on The Haunted Seas: The Best Short Stories of William Hope Hodgson'', 2005 * ''Tolkien Studies: An Annual Scholarly Review'', Volume 2, 2005 (co-editor), West Virginia University Press, * '' The Dark Chamber'' by Leonard Cline, Cold Spring Press, 2005 * ''Seekers of Dreams: Masterpieces of Fantasy'',

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

, 2005 * ''Tolkien Studies: An Annual Scholarly Review'', Volume 3, 2006 (co-editor), West Virginia University Press, * ''Tolkien Studies: An Annual Scholarly Review'', Volume 4, 2007 (co-editor), West Virginia University Press,

References

Sources

* Anderson, Douglas A (editor): ''The Annotated Hobbit'' (revised edition), 2002, * ''Mythprint'', June 1999

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Douglas A. Living people 1959 births People from Valparaiso, Indiana American male non-fiction writers The Tolkien Society members Tolkien scholars American academics of English literature American literary historians