1925

27 June 1925

J.R.R. Tolkien to [University of Oxford Electors]  Letters #7

Tolkien applies for the position of Professorship of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University. He describes his schooling and his time at Leeds University as Re...

22 July 1925

J.R.R. Tolkien to Vice Chancellor of Leeds University  Letters #8

Tolkien has been elected to the Rawlinson & Bosworth professorship at Oxford and must therefore resign his position at Leeds. His posting takes effect f...

1937

5 February 1937

J.R.R. Tolkien to Susan Dagnall  Letters #11

Tolkien replies to Susan Dagnall of GA&U on matters of the reproductions of some of his illustrations in The Hobbit. In the 2023 revised edition of Lett...

31 August 1937

J.R.R. Tolkien to C.A. Furth (Allen & Unwin)  Letters #15

Tolkien enclosed the last of his coloured illustrations for the American edition of The Hobbit. He asked Allen & Unwin to forward it to Houghton Mifflin...

15 October 1937

J.R.R. Tolkien to Stanley Unwin  Letters #17

Tolkien was pleased that The Hobbit was being well received, though he suspected that the two glowing, unsigned reviews in The Times and the Times Liter...

23 October 1937

J.R.R. Tolkien to Stanley Unwin  Letters #18

Originally published as just a fragment of a thank you letter to Stanley Unwin who had written that Tolkien was one of those rare people with genius. In...

16 December 1937

J.R.R. Tolkien to Stanley Unwin  Letters #19

Regarding Tolkiens next project after The Hobbit. He had previously discussed The Father Christmas Letters with Unwin and passed him manuscript of the Q...

1938

1 February 1938

J.R.R. Tolkien to Allen & Unwin Ltd.  Letters #21

Originally published as just a fragment of a letter, gauging Rayner Unwins interest in reading the sequel to The Hobbit. In the revised 2023 edition of ...

4 February 1938

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J.R.R. Tolkien to C.A. Furth  Letters #22

Tolkien sends his publisher a copy of ‘A Long-expected Party’, the first chapter of The Lord of the Rings. He also encloses errata for The Hobbit fo...

12 March 1938

J.R.R. Tolkien to Houghton Mifflin Co.  Letters #27

Houghton Mifflin seemed to have asked Tolkien for drawings of Hobbits for some future edition of The Hobbit. Tolkien stated that such drawings should be...

1941

6-8 March 1941

J.R.R. Tolkien to Michael Tolkien  Letters #43

Tolkien considered three ways by which men dealt with women: purely physical relationships, friendly relationships, and loving relationships. A purely p...

18 March 1941

J.R.R. Tolkien to Michael Tolkien  Letters #44

Tolkien told Michael of his mothers family, who were from Worcestershire. Mabel - to whom Michael owed much - was beautiful and full of wit, but died to...

9 June 1941

J.R.R. Tolkien to Michael Tolkien  Letters #45

One war is enough for any man, declared Tolkien, and he hoped Michael would be spared a second. He knew what Michael was suffering through. When he was ...

26 November 1941

J.R.R. Tolkien to R.W. Chapman  Letters #46

R. W. Chapman, Secretary to the Delegates of the Oxford University Press, asked Tolkien for reminiscences about George S. Gordon (to possibly be include...

1943

29 November 1943

J.R.R. Tolkien to Christopher Tolkien  Letters #52

Tolkien claimed that his political opinions leaned increasingly to Anarchy (philosophically understood) or to unconstitutional Monarchy. He would arrest...

9 December 1943

J.R.R. Tolkien to Christopher Tolkien  Letters #53

Tolkien was sickly amused that the bloodthirsty murderer Josef Stalin invited all nations to join to abolish tyranny and intolerance. Tolkien thought th...

1944

8 January 1944

J.R.R. Tolkien to Christopher Tolkien  Letters #54

Tolkien offers Christopher advice on prayer and to remember his guardian angel. He reminds him to use praises, and says of them if you have these by hea...

1 March 1944

J.R.R. Tolkien to Christopher Tolkien  Letters #56

Tolkien mentions the return of the Useless Quack, Robert Havard, who had joined the Navy medical corps and was on leave in Oxford. He then told of C.S. ...

3 April 1944

J.R.R. Tolkien to Christopher Tolkien  Letters #58

Tolkien told a story about finding himself in a carriage with an R.A.F. officer and a very nice young American Officer. A stroll around Tolkiens hometow...

6 May 1944

J.R.R. Tolkien to Christopher Tolkien  Letters #66

Tolkien expressed some comments about the slow airgraph system. The Professor and his son wrote a lot, but since their letters arrived late, they could ...

11 May 1944

J.R.R. Tolkien to Christopher Tolkien  Letters #67

Tolkien reported to Christopher about various every day affairs, including meetings with C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams and R.B. McCallum. He had found so...

29 June 1944

J.R.R. Tolkien to Stanley Unwin  Letters #74

On 22 June Unwin sent Tolkien a substantial cheque for royalties on The Hobbit and let him know that his son Rayner Unwin was reading English at Oxford ...

31 July 1944

J.R.R. Tolkien to Christopher Tolkien  Letters #77

Tolkien reports in a newly published portion that he had received Christophers airletter of 24 July. He says that his day on Friday was “grim”, as h...

6 October 1944

J.R.R. Tolkien to Christopher Tolkien  Letters #83

In a newly published portion of this letter Tolkien remarks on what a wonderful week it has been for letters from Christopher. He hopes that letters fro...

24 November 1944

J.R.R. Tolkien to Christopher Tolkien  Letters #90

Tolkien and Edith had been amused by Christopher Tolkiens account of the Wings Ceremony. He wondered how his son had seen and remembered a quotation fro...

18 December 1944

J.R.R. Tolkien to Christopher Tolkien  Letters #92

In a newly published portion, Tolkien says that today is the last day for Christmas post arriving in time for Christmas and laments the way the holiday ...

28 December 1944

J.R.R. Tolkien to Christopher Tolkien  Letters #94

Tolkien was happy that Christopher had sent many letters and that more of Ring had arrived. His son liked it even though it seemed to have added to his ...

1945

30 January 1945

J.R.R. Tolkien to Christopher Tolkien  Letters #96

Tolkien met Lewis at the Mitre for warmth and beer, where he received a telephone call informing him that Professor H.C. Wyld had died. This left Tolkie...

1950

5 February 1950

J.R.R. Tolkien to Milton Waldman  Letters #123

Tolkien writes to Milton Waldman of the Collins Publishing co., who he had been introduced to in 1949. Waldman had been interested in publishing the Sil...

10 March 1950

J.R.R. Tolkien to Milton Waldman  Letters #126

Unwin wants to break up Tolkiens monstrous Saga, and Tolkien hopes Unwin will let the project go so Tolkien can publish The Lord of the Rings and The Si...

14 April 1950

J.R.R. Tolkien to Stanley Unwin  Letters #127

Relations between Tolkien and Allen & Unwin had begun to become strained as Tolkien felt that A&U were not open to publishing his work as he would have ...

1951

1951 (late)

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J.R.R. Tolkien to Milton Waldman  Letters #131

Tolkien noted that Waldman had asked for a brief sketch of his imaginary world. He said it was difficult to say anything without saying too much: the at...

1953

2 December 1953

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J.R.R. Tolkien to Father Robert Murray  Letters #142

Robert Murray had offered Tolkien some thought on The Lord of the Rings to which Tolkien replies. Tolkien was pleased by Murrays words of encouragement ...

1954

7 August 1954

J.R.R. Tolkien to Katharine Farrer  Letters #148

Tolkien acknowledged that misprints still existed in Volume I, but nasturtians was deliberate and represented a final triumph over the high-handed print...

9 September 1954

J.R.R. Tolkien to Rayner Unwin  Letters #149

Tolkien found that the reviews were a great deal better than he had feared. They might have been better if quoting Ariosto had been avoided or without c...

18 September 1954

J.R.R. Tolkien to Hugh Brogan  Letters #151

Tolkien opined that part of the fascination with The Lord of the Rings was the incomplete vistas of legend and history. Brogan preferred goblins to orcs...

23 September 1954

J.R.R. Tolkien to Rayner Heppenstall  Letters #152

Heppenstall asked what dialect the speakers should adopt for the radio program The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth, Beorhthelms Son. Tolkien replied that none ...

1955

10 November 1955

J.R.R. Tolkien to Lord Halsbury  Letters #174

Lord Halsbury had suggested to Tolkien that if Allen and Unwin were unwilling to publish The Silmarillion commercially, perhaps it could be published by...

1956

16 April 1956

J.R.R. Tolkien to H [Humphrey]. Cotton Minchin  Letters #187

Tolkien describes himself as a philologist, and sometime calligrapher. An index of Elvish names was intended to be produced, noting that his specialist ...

1957

21 March 1957

J.R.R. Tolkien to Katharine Farrer  Letters #196

Tolkien believed that Mrs Farrer had been much concerned about Jack Lewis’s troubles. Tolkien knew little beyond cautious hints of the extremely discr...

7 September 1957

J.R.R. Tolkien to Rayner Unwin  Letters #201

Writing to Rayner Unwin, Tolkien gives some thoughts on the material left with him by Forrest J. Ackerman, including the script of Morton Grady Zimmerma...

1960

31 December 1960

J.R.R. Tolkien to L.W. Forster  Letters #226

Writing to L.W. Forster, Tolkien states that The Lord of the Rings was not influenced by the two World Wars, except for the landscape. The 2023 revised ...

1962

18 July 1962

J.R.R. Tolkien to Jane Neave  Letters #238

Writing to his aunt, Jane Neave, and in a newly published From the original Letters, 1981. Tolkien had sent Jane a cheque, but she returned it suggestin...

20 July 1962

J.R.R. Tolkien to Alina Dadlez  Letters #239

Writing to Alina Dadlez, Tolkien explains his displeasure at the Spanish translation of Hobbit and remarks back to the private fancies of the translator...

1965

12 September 1965

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J.R.R. Tolkien to Dick Plotz  Letters #276

Tolkien writes about The Silmarillion, the Númenórean legends, and his friendship with C.S. Lewis. He discusses the formation of the Tolkien Society o...

1971

29 November 1971

J.R.R. Tolkien to William Cater  Letters #331

Tolkien writes to William Cater about the death of his wife, Edith Tolkien and his utter bereavement. In the 2023 revised edition of Letters, a brief no...