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J.R.R. Tolkiens ganz persönlicher Kampf gegen die Zerstörung der Umwelt
Mit Originalillustrationen von J.R.R. Tolkien
Nahe der alten Stadt Bovadium erfand einst ein Daemon die Motores. Die begeisterten Menschen wurden bald zu ihren Sklaven. Mit diesem Buch beweist Tolkien, dass er erfasste, was die Menschen erst später begriffen: die Katastrophe, die mit der Automobilisierung von Städten auf uns zurollte.
Anfang der 1950er Jahre tobte in Oxford eine Kontroverse, und mitten drin J.R.R. Tolkien. Die nahe gelegenen Morris-Automobilwerke hatten den Verkehr ins Unerträgliche ansteigen lassen, und neue Straßen drohten, den Charakter der Universitätsstadt zu zerstören. Als Reaktion darauf verfasste Tolkien eine satirische Fantasy-Geschichte - Die Bovadium Fragmente -, die erzählen, wie schreckliche Maschinen die Stadt erobern. Und die Motores verstopfen die Straßen mit Lärm und Gestank, bis alles Leben zum Stillstand kommt. Hier zeigt sich Tolkien von seiner ironischen, gelehrten und doch auch tragischen Seite. Die von Christopher Tolkien edierte Ausgabe aus Tolkiens Nachlass ist mit Bildern von seiner Hand, zeitgenössischen Fotos und Plänen versehen. Sie enthält einen exclusiven Essay von Richard Ovenden, dem Direktor der Bodleian Library, zur Geschichte Oxfords in der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts.
Über den Autor / die Autorin
J.R.R. Tolkien was born on 3rd January 1892 in Bloemfontein.
After serving in the First World War, Tolkien embarked upon
a distinguished academic career and was recognised as one of
the finest philologists in the world. He is, however, best known
as the creator of Middle-earth and author of such classic and
extraordinary works of fiction as The Hobbit, The Lord of the
Rings and The Silmarillion. His books have been translated into
more than 80 languages and have sold many millions of copies
worldwide. He was awarded a CBE, and an honorary Doctorate
of Letters from Oxford University in 1972. He died in 1973 at
the age of 81.
Ch ristopher Tolkien, born on 21 November 1924, was the
third son of J.R.R. Tolkien. During the Second World
War he served in the Royal Air Force and the Fleet Air Arm as
a pilot. At the end of the war he returned to Oxford University
and became a Fellow and Tutor in English of New College in
1964, lecturing in the University on early English and northern
literature. Appointed by J.R.R Tolkien to be his literary
executor, he devoted himself after his father’s death in 1973
to the completion and publication of his writings, notably
The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, the twelve volumes collectively
known as The History of Middle-earth, and The Children of Húrin,
Beren and Lúthien and The Fall of Gondolin. In 1975 he moved
with his wife Baillie to live in France and in 2016 was awarded
the University of Oxford’s Bodley Medal for his outstanding
contribution to the world of literature, culture, science and
communication. He died on 16 January 2020 at the age of 95.
Richard Ovenden is Bodley’s Librarian and Helen Hamlyn
Director of University Libraries, the 25th person
to hold the senior executive position in the library of the
University of Oxford, having moved to the Bodleian Libraries
in 2003 as Keeper of Special Collections. He is also the
current head of the University of Oxford’s Gardens, Libraries
and Museums group. Since 1987 he has worked in a number
of important archives and libraries, including the House of
Lords Library, the National Library of Scotland (as a Curator
of Rare Books) and in the University of Edinburgh, where he
was Director of Collections. Richard was awarded the OBE in
The Queen’s Birthday Honours, 2019
