For a school project, a German art student hand-illuminated and bound a copy of J.R.R. Tolkien‘s Silmarillion.

Benjamin Harff, who hopes to work as an illustrator and calligrapher, created this one-of-a-kind manuscript for his exam at the Academy of Art in Germany.

All in all, it took Harff one year to create his book, financing it himself.

The Tolkien Library website got in touch with Harff for a lengthy interview and obtained several photos of his deluxe edition Silmarillion. Check out an excerpt from the interview here below.