A Guide to Middle-earth

Infobox Book
name = A Guide to Middle-earth
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Front of wrap-around dust jacket
author = Robert Foster
illustrator =
cover_artist = Tim Kirk
country = United States
language = English
series =
subject = Middle-earth
genre = Reference
publisher = Mirage Press, Baltimore, Maryland
release_date = 1971
english_release_date =
media_type = Hardcover and Paperback
pages = 292
isbn = n/a
preceded_by =
followed_by = The Complete Guide to Middle-earth (revised and expanded edition)

"A Guide to Middle-earth" was the first published encyclopedic reference book for the fictional universe of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, compiled and edited by Robert Foster. The book was published in 1971 by Mirage Press, a specialist science fiction and fantasy publisher, in a limited edition of 2000 copies (750 numbered hardcovers and 1250 unnumbered paperbacks). A paperback edition was issued by Ballantine Books in 1974 [See Drout, Michael D. C., ed.: "J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia", Routledge, 2006, ISBN 0-4159-6942-5, pp.655-656] .

The author profile on the first edition describes Robert Foster as the then-"Tengwar Consultant" to the Tolkien Society of America, and the book incorporates material previously published in the fanzine "Niekas" (see also Tolkien fandom).

A much-expanded edition incorporating entries for "The Silmarillion" was issued in 1978 by Ballantine under the title "The Complete Guide to Middle-earth", and a further revised edition (ISBN 0-345-44976-2) was published in 2001 in time for the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy.

Notes