I was thinking about this idea of publication of a great many more Tolkien letters. Tolkien the man must have been the first author I was interested in (as well as his books), going back half a century. But I feel unsure about publication of family letters. Sure, ones expressing his fatherly advice, for example, could be great to read if edited sensitively. But I seem to feel a little "squeamish" about highly personal letters being published. I guess this feeling is at least in part due simply to the relatively near proximity in time of Tolkien (I remember the front-page newspaper item about his death when I was 18) and his family -- members of which are alive. I don't find myself uneasy about the publication of highly personal letters by my favorite of the English Romantics, Coleridge, whyo died in 1834.

Dale Nelson wrote:

I was thinking about this idea of publication of a great many more Tolkien letters. Tolkien the man must have been the first author I was interested in (as well as his books), going back half a century. But I feel unsure about publication of family letters. Sure, ones expressing his fatherly advice, for example, could be great to read if edited sensitively. But I seem to feel a little "squeamish" about highly personal letters being published. I guess this feeling is at least in part due simply to the relatively near proximity in time of Tolkien (I remember the front-page newspaper item about his death when I was 18) and his family -- members of which are alive. I don't find myself uneasy about the publication of highly personal letters by my favorite of the English Romantics, Coleridge, whyo died in 1834.

I wholeheartedly agree, Dale Nelson. There are lots of letters that we will likely never know about, let alone see, as they stay in family hands (or in the "family only" archive at the Bodleian), and I am fine with that. The letters we have seen that were sent to immediate family members have been selected and edited in cooperation with the recipients at the time. I wouldn't want a sudden trove of "letters to Priscilla" to be published now, for example, unless she had approved everything before her passing. That just feels invasive for no good purpose to me.

That still leaves an immense trove of letters, though!

I love reading Tolkien's letters--those published as well as those scattered about auction catalogues and other places (the uncollected and largely unpublished ones). Thus, I was very much looking forward to this revised edition.

I realize this might not be a popular opinion, but I was rather underwhelmed by this revised edition of The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien. At $40, it feels like a cash grab from the publishers rather than actually providing readers with a revised and substantive edition of letters. I know that this is merely the original (non-excised) version of Carpenter's first edition of the letters, but I didn't feel like there was much material that was new and/or valuable for the price tag (there is some great material, of course).

When it comes to Tolkien's letters, Scull and Hammond's Companion and Guide is infinitely better than most (but not all) of the new letters in this volume (IMO).

As others have already pointed out, what we really need are multiple volumes of Collected Letters (like C. S. Lewis already has). I doubt that will happen, though, because such letters generally don't sell particularly well. Lewis' Coll. Letters were compiled, edited, and published because Walter Hooper had the ability, position, and wherewithal to get a project like this completed. Hammond and Scull could (and I imagine would) if the publisher and estate gave the green light. But I doubt that will happen...

I love, love the letters guide here, but of course, due to copyright, the actual content of the letters cannot be posted.

I think if the estate and publisher truly wanted to 'give something back' they would reward loyal readers and collectors with this. Perhaps they could be a print on demand offering with orders collated until reaching a 'critical mass'. Probably a naive viewpoint.