The most comprehensive, in-depth reference of Tolkien's life and work ever published, "The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide" (Houghton Mifflin 2006) is the latest of several major books on Tolkien by Christina Scull and her husband, Wayne G. Hammond, assistant librarian in the Chapin Library at Williams College.
The product of seven years' labor, the "Companion and Guide" grew so much in its writing that it appears in two volumes. Its first part, the "Chronology," documents the progress of Tolkien's life from his birth in South Africa in 1892 until his death in England in 1973. Thousands of details, drawn from published and unpublished sources, form a revealing portrait of a noted scholar of Old and Middle English, teacher, and administrator, a devoted husband and father, and the renowned author of "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings." To this are added family trees, checklists of Tolkien's writings, pictorial art, and poetry, and a list of translations of his works.
The second volume, the "Reader's Guide," is an extensive encyclopedia. It provides histories and discussions of Tolkien's works, analyses of his vast "Silmarillion" mythology, biographies of persons important in his life, accounts of places he knew, and essays on topics such as fandom and dramatization, influences and illustrations, Tolkien's personal interests, his invented languages, and his attitudes towards contemporary issues such as politics and the environment.
Christina Scull has written widely on Tolkien and fantasy literature, and on topics in art history, notably on the architect Sir John Soane and his collection of paintings by William Hogarth. Wayne G. Hammond is the author of standard bibliographies of J.R.R. Tolkien and Arthur Ransome, and of essays on authors such as Tolkien, Samuel "Erewhon" Butler, and Madeleine L'Engle. Their earlier joint publications include "J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator," "The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion," and editions of Tolkien's "Roverandom," "Farmer Giles of Ham," and "The Lord of the Rings."
Scull received her B.A. (art history and medieval history) from Birkbeck College, the University of London. She was the Librarian of Sir John Soane's Museum from 1971 to 1995. Hammond earned his B.A. (English) from Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, Ohio, and his A.M.L.S. from the University of Michigan. He has been a librarian in Williams College's distinguished Chapin Library of rare books since 1976. The couple lives in Williamstown.
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Williamstown Studying Major Overhaul for Main Street
By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The town is working with a Worcester civil engineering firm to redesign Main Street with an eye toward a major project sometime in the next decade.
Community Development Director Andrew Groff was before the Select Board on Monday night to talk about Town Hall's use of a $500,000 state grant to do preliminary design on major improvements to that portion of Route 2 that runs from Water Street west to the Field Park rotary, through the middle of Williams College's campus.
Groff introduced the elected officials to Amanda Bazinet of Worcester's Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, who is helping the town to develop a plan for Main Street that would align with the commonwealth's Complete Streets Program.
"Our project goals, in addition to the increased pedestrian and bicycle accommodations, is just, in general, improving the sightlines and improving the intersection geometry," Bazinet said.
"Complete Streets … has a lot of different facets to it. As Andrew had mentioned, the goal is to improve the safety for all of the roadway users — not just the motorists. We're looking at improving it for pedestrians, bicyclists, anyone using a mobility device. We want to create streets that are safe for all ages and abilities to use. So, while bicyclists will still be allowed, legally, to use the roadway, we want to look at providing a separate bicycle accommodation along the corridor, whether it's a shared use path along both sides of the streets that is a little more accessible to young children or older people with disabilities to look at all transportation options."
One goal is to encourage "active transportation." The Massachusetts Department of Transportation, who the town hopes one day might fund the construction, has a "healthy transportation policy," Bazinet said.
That MassDOT funding would come through the Transportation Improvement Program, which is managed locally by the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission. The design work underway now is being done with an eye toward going after TIP funding years down the road.
The town is working with a Worcester civil engineering firm to redesign Main Street with an eye toward a major project sometime in the next decade.
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The elevated bridge between the Clark Art Institute's main museum and the Manton Research Center is being transformed into new gallery space and storage, and the permanent home of the Aso O. Tavitian collection. click for more
Nearly 90 towns and cities across the commonwealth have voted in favor or replacing the seal, which depicts an arm holding a sword above the head of a Native American. click for more
