Guide to Tolkien's Letters: Important Links

The Tolkien Estate has a small selection of letters one can read on their website. With useful links and with some very entertaining articles by leading Tolkien scholars along with a FAQ on various subjects, this website is indispensable.

The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, holds a vast collection of J.R.R. Tolkien’s manuscripts. These papers are only open to some researchers with the permission of the Estate, but there are some open access resources on their SOLO (Search Oxford Library Online) engine that readers can enjoy from the comfort of your own home.

The Marquette University Rayner Memorial Libraries has a significant Tolkien Collection. This vast collection of manuscripts, letters, secondary material relating to Tolkien such as journals, fanzines, and ephemera, providing a wealth of information about Tolkien.

The Marion E. Wade Center owns many original manuscripts and letters, as well as Tolkien's famous writing desk. By appointment, readers can enjoy time at the archives and while their holdings of manuscripts is not the largest collection, they have a wonderful selection of Tolkien's letters to see and read. They also have a large collection of manuscripts from other members of the Inklings.

Leeds University, where Tolkien worked from 1920 to 1925. In that time he established himself as a foremost figure in British academic circles with his collaboration of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight with E.V. Gordon. At the Leeds University Library special collections you can see details of their collection.

A scholarly project focused on Tolkien from both a corpus linguistic and digital humanities perspective. Be sure to check out the Search function for finding published citations for Tolkien's writings.