The American Geographical Society Library recently acquired the Karen Wynn Fonstad Collection, including the original manuscript maps of The Atlas of Middle-Earth. A cartographer from Oshkosh, Fonstad was a lifelong fan of J.R.R. Tolkien’s work. Upon her passing in 2005, Fonstad left her family an archive of nearly 1,000 map drafts, many of them based on Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion. 

Fonstad’s meticulous readings of Tolkien’s books informed her cartography as she translated written descriptions into tangible maps. With a blessing from the author’s estate, Houghton Mifflin published Fonstad’s The Atlas of Middle-Earth in 1981. Her atlas informed the filming locations for the movie adaptation of The Lord of the Rings series in the early 2000s. The success of her work inspired Fonstad to create atlases for other fantasy series such as the Dragonriders of Pern, and role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons.   

The collection also includes 40 books containing her extensive geographic notes, pencil drafts, and drafting equipment, providing a look into Fonstad’s cartographic process. The Fonstad Collection is currently being processed by library staff. Digital access is expected to be available in the near future.