Mr. Bliss is an illustrated children's story written by J.R.R. Tolkien and first published posthumously in 1982. It tells the story of Mr. Bliss and his first ride in his new motor-car. Many adventures follow, such as encounters with bears, angry neighbors, irate shopkeepers, and a whimsical assortment of collisions. Tolkien was both its author and illustrator.
The story line was inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's own vehicular mishaps with his first automobile, purchased in 1932. The bears were based on toy bears owned by Tolkien's sons. His narrative binds story and illustrations tightly together, as the text often comments directly on the pictures. Despite not being published during Tolkien's lifetime, he submitted the book to his publishers as a balm to readers who desired more from Tolkien after the success of The Hobbit. The lavish ink and colored pencil illustrations would have made production costs prohibitively expensive, so Tolkien agreed to redraw the pictures in a simpler style, though that never happened.
The book was eventually published in 1982, with Tolkien's difficult-to-read handwritten story and illustrations on one page, and a typeset transcription on the facing page. The 2011 edition presents the typed text with drawings integrated into it, with the entire first edition included at the back, so the book can be read both forwards and backwards.
Background[]
According to Humphrey Carpenter in J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography, the story was inspired by Tolkien's own driving mishaps following the purchase of his first car in 1932.[1] Despite this, however, Joan Tolkien, Michael Tolkien's wife, claimed that it was based on Christopher Tolkien's most cherished toy car and that the three bears were based on three teddy bears owned by Tolkien's sons.[2] It was suggested by Christopher Tolkien that, based on the handwriting, the story was most likely written in the 1930s than the 1920s.[3] Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull further suggested that the story was most likely produced in a short summer break, possibly in the summers of 1929, 1930, or 1931.[4] However, in a 1932 holiday to Cornwall, Tolkien named a local character "Gaffer Gamgee", which Hammond and Scull acknowledged indicated a later date for the writing of Mr. Bliss.[3]
Following the success of The Hobbit, Tolkien submitted Mr. Bliss to Allen and Unwin in 1936 alongside Roverandom, Farmer Giles of Ham, and The Lost Road.[5] While the publishers considered publication, the cost of reproducing the images would have been too expensive.[1] As a consequence, the publishers asked Tolkien to redraw them in a simpler style, though Tolkien wasn't sure that he could[6] and hoped the publishers could find another artist.[7] Despite this, Tolkien agreed to redraw the images,[8] but never found the time to do so.[1] The original manuscripts of the story were sold to Marquette University in 1957 for £1,250 alongside the manuscripts of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and Farmer Giles of Ham.[9] In 1964, Clyde Samuel Kilby became aware of Mr. Bliss.[10] That same year, Tolkien and Rayner Unwin once again considered publication of Mr. Bliss, but both felt that the artwork needed to be reproduced first.[10]
Following Tolkien's death in 1973, Christopher Tolkien and the Tolkien Estate worked to release Tolkien's unpublished materials. Mr. Bliss was published by George Allen and Unwin in 1982 exactly as Tolkien drew, with typeset text opposite Tolkien's original drawings;[11] TolkienBooks.net suggested that 50,000 copies were printed.[12] A revised and redesigned edition was published in 2007 for the 25th anniversary with all the images re-scanned and presented in an enlarged format with a slipcase.[13] In 2011 a conventional trade hardback of Mr. Bliss was published.[14]
See also[]
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Bengali | মিঃ সুখ |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Мистър Блис |
| Chinese | 幸福先生 |
| Dutch | Meneer Blijleven |
| Finnish | Herra Bliss |
| French | Monsieur Merveille |
| Georgian | მისტერ ბლისი |
| German | Herr Glück |
| Hindi | श्री. परमानंद |
| Hungarian | Úr. Boldogság |
| Icelandic | Herra Bliss |
| Korean | 블리스 씨 |
| Marathi | श्रीमान आनंद |
| Polish | Pan Błysk |
| Punjabi | ਮਿਸਟਰ ਬਲਿਸ |
| Romanian | Domnul Bliss |
| Russian | Мистер Блисс |
| Sinhalese | මහතා සතුට |
| Slovak | Pán Blaženosť |
| Spanish | El señor Bliss |
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography, pgs. 217-8
- ↑ "Letters" in The Times, October 10 1982, pg. 25
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide, vol. II: Reader's Guide, pg. 788
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist & Illustrator, pg. 86
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography, pg. 244
- ↑ The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, Letter 31
- ↑ The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, Letter 23
- ↑ The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, Letter 10
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography, pg. 299
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide, vol. II: Reader's Guide, pg. 789
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Mr. Bliss (2011 edition), pg. 5-7
- ↑ "Mr. Bliss. 1982" on TolkienBooks.net
- ↑ "Mr. Bliss, a tale written and illustrated by Tolkien: 25th anniversary of publication (updated 27.06.07)", dated June 27, 2007
- ↑ "Books by J.R.R.Tolkien - Mr. Bliss"