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By Morgan
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"Some Contributions to Middle-English Lexicography"

4 May, 2010
2010-5-4 8:54:44 PM UTC

I humbly ask for some help on tracing the publication history of "Some Contributions to Middle-English Lexicography" by J.R.R. Tolkien.

The tolkienbookshelf.com has a copy of the 1924 book The Finn Episode in Beowulf for sale, which contains the article. However, according to Bertenstam's bibliography of Tolkien's published works, the article didn't appear until 1925 in The Review of English Studies.

Was the 1925 article merely a reprint of the article in the 1924 book?

Thank you,

Morgan
4 May, 2010
2010-5-4 9:18:21 PM UTC
This is not a single book, but two separate items. The Finn book is not by Tolkien - it's by R.A. Williams. This copy comes from Tolkien's library, and has his ownership signature.

The second item is an offprint of Tolkien's Middle English Lexicography, taken from the Review of English Studies Volume 1, 1925. The article doesn't appear in the Finn book.
5 May, 2010
2010-5-5 5:31:41 AM UTC
The Finn book is not by Tolkien - it's by R.A. Williams. This copy comes from Tolkien's library, and has his ownership signature.

This particular book also has some other hand-writing under Tolkien's signature, possibly to remind Tolkien about the quality of the book.

10_4be10299cfab0.jpg 201X112 px
5 May, 2010
2010-5-5 4:06:04 PM UTC
Thanks for the quick answer! I misinterpreted the page on tolkienbookshelf... I hope you all don't mind if I pose some newbie questions on the forum (I will likely have quite a few, since I have a growing interest in Tolkien bibliography...)
5 May, 2010
2010-5-5 4:43:11 PM UTC
Not at all, post away! And a warm welcome to TCG.
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