Letter to Liège University (9 September 1954)
From Tolkien Gateway
Liège University 9 September 1954 is a letter from J.R.R. Tolkien to the Rector of the University of Liège, written on September 9th, 1954.
The letter concerns the festivities of Tolkien's reception of an honorary doctorate at the University of Liège on October 2nd, 1954 (he was suggested as a candidate by Simonne d'Ardenne).
- Authenticity: High. The letter is kept at the University Archives in Liège, and is mentioned by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull in The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide: Chronology.
- Publication: The letter was reprinted in full in the article "Tolkien and Belgium" by Johan Vanhecke, published in Lembas Extra: Proceedings of the 5th Unquendor Lustrum.
Excerpt
- "I also have very great pleasure in accepting to lunch on after the ceremony; but I much regret that my wife will, for reasons of health, be unable to accompany me on this occasion."
- ― J.R.R. Tolkien (in Lembas Extra: Proceedings of the 5th Unquendor Lustrum, p.56)