From the BBC description of the episode, “Host John Humphrys invites four contenders to answer questions in the black chair. The specialist subjects are TV westerns of the 50s and 60s, the life and work of Tolkien, the government of Gough Whitlam 1972 -1975, and the life and career of Dixie Dean.”

The specialist in this topic will be Newnham College (University of Cambridge) Alumna Dr. Valerie Roebuck.

If anyone watches this, can we get a report on the quality of the questions and answers posted in the comments or on the forums?

The episode should be available on BBC’s iPlayer for a while after the episode airs, as well.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qr337

[Thanks to wellinghall for the tip!]

Jason Fisher kindly gave me permission to reprint his blog post on the upcoming Congress. Enjoy! (And read his blog regularly!)

The schedule for the Forty-fifth International Congress on Medieval Studies, also known simply as Kalamazoo, has been published. The conference runs May 13-16, 2010 at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. One of the event’s innumerable sponsors is Tolkien at Kalamazoo, which is running seven sessions this year. I won’t be attending Kalamazoo myself, but as a public service, here’s what those who do can look forward to (for dates and times, you can refer to the full published schedule):

Four paper sessions:

MEDIEVAL FANTASY, ALCHEMY, AND MODERN SCIENCE IN TOLKIEN’S LEGENDARIUM
• Elvencentrism: “Elven Nature Preserves” in the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien, Ann Martinez, U. of Kansas
• “Worlds on Worlds”: Tolkien, Lewis, and the Medieval and Modern Theological Implications of Extraterrestrial Life, Kristine Larsen, Central Connecticut State U.
• Inside Literature: Tolkien’s Explorations of Medieval Genres, John D. Rateliff, Independent Scholar
• J.R.R. Tolkien and The Battle of Maldon: An Example of “Freer” Verse?, Stuart D. Lee, U. of Oxford

TOLKIEN AND THE BIBLE
• Neues Testament und Märchen: Tolkien, Fairy Stories, and the Gospels, John William Houghton, Hill School
• “Justice is not healing”: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Pauline Constructs in “Finwë and Míriel”, Amelia A. Rutledge, George Mason U.
• Tolkien on the Old English Pater Noster: Digging Niggling Calligraphy, John R. Holmes, Franciscan U. of Steubenville
• The Lord of the Fish: Tolkien and the Book of Jonah, Michael Foster, Independent Scholar

TOLKIEN AS SCHOLAR, TRANSLATOR, ACADEMIC
• Tolkien as Pearl Maiden: Exhortation as Parable, David Thomson, Baylor U.
• Casting Away Treasures: Tolkien’s Use of The Pearl in The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, Leigh Smith, East Stroudsburg U.
• The Pearl and The Jewels: Beren and Luthien [sic] and The Pearl, Janice M. Bogstad, U. of Wisconsin - Eau Claire

TOLKIEN UN-BODIED
• To Be or Not to Be? The Enigma of the Balrog in Tolkien’s Mythology, Bradford Lee Eden, U. of California - Santa Barbara
• Tolkien’s Ramblin’ Men, Peter Grybauskas, U. of Maryland
• “It is enough to make the dead rise out of their graves!”: Tolkien, Oliphant, and Gendered Conventions of the Supernatural, Sharin Schroeder, U. of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Two roundtables:

THE HOBBIT
A roundtable discussion with Jennifer Culver, U. of Texas - Dallas; Deborah Sabo, U. of Arkansas - Fayetteville; John D. Rateliff, Independent Scholar; Corey Olsen, Washington College; Janice M. Bogstad, U. of Wisconsin–Eau Claire; and Merlin DeTardo, Independent Scholar. Presider: Douglas A. Anderson, Independent Scholar.

TEACHING TOLKIEN
A roundtable discussion with Victoria Wodzak, Viterbo U.; Michael Foster, Independent Scholar; Jon Porter, Butler University; Kristine Larsen, Central Connecticut State U.; Corey Olsen, Washington College; and Benjamin S. W. Barootes, McGill U. Presider: Judy Ann Ford, Texas A&M U. - Commerce.

And another session (as usual at Kalamazoo) just for fun:

TOLKIEN UNBOUND: READERS’ THEATER PERFORMANCE
• Readings from Sigurd and Gudrun [sic], Yvette Kisor, Jennifer Culver, and Bradford Lee Eden
• “The Road Goes Ever On” by Donald Swann, Eileen Marie Moore
• The Lord of the Ringos, Michael Foster and Amy Amendt-Raduege

In addition to papers to be delivered under the impresa of Tolkien at Kalamazoo, a quick search of the full schedule turned up a few more papers and sessions of interest, to wit:
• Jeff Smith’s “Bone”: Revising Tolkien and Lewis’s Antimodernist Fantasies, Andrew Taylor, Western Michigan U.
• Landscapes of Lord of the Rings Online, Ryan T. Harper, U. of Rochester
• Middle-Earth [sic] and the Waste Land: Greenwood, Apocalypse, and Post-War Resolution, Edward L. Risden, St. Norbert College

Plus an entire session of papers presented by students from the NEH Summer Institute on Tolkien conducted at Texas A&M - Commerce last summer. The session is being run by Judy Ann Ford, one of the Institute’s two co-directors (and the other co-director, Robin Anne Reid, is in charge of Tolkien at Kalamazoo). I was particularly pleased to see this session, as I was one of the guest instructors at the Institute. I wrote a little bit about the Institute here (see the penultimate paragraph). It’s very nice to see the Institute bearing fruit.

David Miller, proprietor of The Tolkien Bookshelf has been selling Tolkien books and related materials for more than a decade, through personal contacts, eBay, ABEBooks, and now through his own website located at http://www.tolkienbookshelf.com.

His website is looking very nice, with well laid out categories and plenty of wonderful looking items featured on the homepage. I asked David for some background information to share, for those of you who have not dealt with him before.

I first read the Hobbit, when I ‘borrowed’ my older sister’s copy, back in the late 60’s. She was working on a dramatic presentation for a drama class, and I was intrigued by the story. After she reconfiscated her copy, she told me I should try the Lord of the Rings, and gave me an old bedraggled Ballantine paperback set. So I was hooked!!! Later on, I bought a nice set of the 2nd US Edition, and kept those for many years, rereading them probably once a year all the way thru college.

When the Silmarillion came out in ‘77, of course I had to pickup a copy of that, and that rekindled a bit of interest. It wasn’t until the late 90’s though, with eBay and other internet sources that I really became involved again. That I can blame on the ‘one’ book that I didn’t buy when I had the opportunity. The story goes, some of my family was out on a holiday drive, and stopped by a few antique stores. There I ran across an old copy of the Return of the King, a 1st US Edition in dustjacket. It was a later printing, which I told myself probably wasn’t worth much, so I passed on buying it. $2.00 was too much, I guess, as I didn’t purchase it. When I got home, I decided to go online and see if I could find a full set, to replace my old worn out one. Much to my surprise, the prices were seriously expensive for even a copy like the one I passed up. So of course I raced back at the first opportunity to check on it, and much to my regrets, it was gone. So I then started collecting the singles and strays and making up sets. Once I got started and had a nice set for myself, I had a large number leftover that I started selling on eBay.

Then the hype started with the rumors of someone making a movie of the Trilogy. This of course forced me to try to pickup a nice set of the UK 1st Edition, and resell some of the leftover’s again. The next area that I got involved with was custom fine bindings. There were the really bad looking copies, that the covers were falling off of, or had some other problems, that I just couldn’t do much with, but came along with others I had purchased. A friend told me about a bookbinder he used, and I decided to try that on an old Hobbit. Loving the feel and smell of those new bindings, really got me hooked. Now I try to keep a few of those around at my store as well as a few unbound copies so a collector can have a set made up to their own personal preferences. Now my collecting has evolved to the point where I have my own website, and along with learning about how to make it work right, I’ve tried to branch out a bit, and offer a wider selection of Tolkien related items. So that’s the story of how I started collecting and selling Tolkien books.

Of course, collecting and selling Tolkien books means you run across some interesting items. When asked what was a particularly memorable one, David said

I really can’t name any particular one, unless it was the 1987 Super Deluxe Hobbit Limitation Number 2, signed by Christopher Tolkien. I always thought it was pretty cool that CT received copy #1, and I had the next one. But I’ve had some super nice sets of the Lord of the Rings 1st UK 1st Impressions, as well as a few 1st US 1st Impression sets that were virtually Fine/Fine condition. Then there have been a few of the 1st & 2nd Impression Hobbits (and a signed copy or two) that were special as well. Perhaps my favorite is one of his handwritten letters to Ingrid Pridgeon that I sold a few years ago. I had my binder make up a special leather and marbled paper folder to house the letter and envelope and it turned out so nice, I really hated to let it go. That one I’ll attach a couple of photo’s for you. It was really nice, and his handwriting is always such a treat to read. That may have been my all time favorite.

I think David sums everything up quite well:

Probably the thing I like the most, is the people I’ve met in collecting and selling. Many have become good friends, and I always enjoy helping them find just the right book, for them. Always very nice when someone is pleased with their purchase.