It was actually on the BBC news (on the TV) as well! Although, it made no mention of the source of the donation; or of 'Tolkien'. It did have footage of Shelley's handwritten manuscript though; as well as a Gutenberg Bible and a Shakespeare Folio etc.

BH

and this was posted on the BBC news website...follow the link to view the interview.

LINK

Hi everyone,

I came across this news posted on theonering.net website, and I thought it might be of interest.

£5m donation to university library

A rare collection of books and artefacts will be open to the public for the first time after a £5million donation was made to the famous Bodleian Library at Oxford University.

Original manuscripts from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein will be among a number of national treasures put on display in a new exhibition hall.

The donation by Julian Blackwell, president of the Blackwell's academic bookshop chain, is the largest yet made to a university library in the UK.

The redevelopment, called the New Bodleian Library, will enable priceless 400-year-old collections, which have previously only been accessible to a limited number of specialist scholars, to be put on permanent public display.

The full posting is here

Dior

Updated the CotM for March at:

www.angelfire.com/tn3/tolkiencalendars

Hope you like it. Fangorn sent it and a birthday calendar (both arrived safely yesterday). So it seemed appropriate to make it the CotM and thank him.

Spring is coming!

Away from The Green Hill Country,

Parmastahir

Somewhere, I read that there were two Punch articles in Tolkien in the summer / autumn of 1973. I acquired one - the 25 - 31 July 1973 issue - but I can't find the reference to the other.

Does this ring a bell with anybody?

Thanks

wellinghall