Letters not published in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien

The name Letters refers to more than one character, item or concept. For a list of other meanings, see Letters (disambiguation).

The The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien is a large collection of letters of Tolkien, but it is far from complete. Below are some letters that did not make it into the collection, or only partially.

Individual letters

1890s

• 14 February 1896, to Arthur Tolkien

1900s

• 8 August 1904, to Father Francis Morgan

1910s

• 3 January 1913, to Edith Bratt
• 1 February 1913, to Edith Bratt
• 2 January 1917, to the War Office

1920s

• 26 January 1925, to Joseph Wright
• 12 June 1925, to Mr. Ashton
• 12 March 1927, to Ronald Ashton

1930s

• 1932, A Philologist on Esperanto
• 27 May 1932, to A.F. Colborn
• 16 March 1933, to Kenneth Sisam
• 21 December 1933, to R.W. Chambers
• 23 December 1934, to G.H. Cowling
• 27 September 1936, to Aurelius Pompen
• 25 April 1937, to Charles Furth
• 7 September 1937, to George Allen & Unwin
• 21 September 1937, to Simonne d'Ardenne
• 22 September 1937, to Jane Neave
• 14-15 December 1937, to G.E. Selby
• 15 December 1937, to Arthur Ransome
• 19 December 1937, to Charles Furth (Letter 20)
• 28 May 1938, to Kenneth Sisam
• 21 July 1938, to A.F. Colborn
• 24 December 1938, to Miss Kilbride.

1940s

• 15 March 1942, to John Kettle
• 29 January 1943, to J.L.N. O'Loughlin
• 3 August 1943, to Leila Keene and Pat Kirke
• 19 September 1944, to G.E. Selby
• 10-11 February 1945, to the Catholic Herald ("The Name Coventry")
• 2 June 1945, to Maegraith
• 7 July 1946, to G.E. Selby
• 2 August 1946, to Przemyslaw Mroczkowski
• 10 January 1947, to A.W. Riddle
• 26 September 1947, to Jennifer Brookes-Smith
• ‎2 October 1947, to A.W. Riddle
• 18 January 1948, to J.L.N. O'Loughlin
• 28 January 1949, to the editor of The Times
• 11 March 1949, to Miss Turnbull
• 4 June 1949, to Pauline Baynes
• 12 November 1949, to Miss How

1950s

• 1951, to Milton Waldman
• 25 November 1951, to Iona and Peter Opie
• 7 August 1952, to George and Moira Sayer
• 10 August 1952, Moira Sayer
• 24 June 1953, to George Sayer
• 15 August 1953, to Ronald Eames
• 28 December 1953, to Rayner Unwin
• 29 January 1954, to the Liège University
• 30 April 1954, to Stanley Unwin
• 17 May 1954, to Henry Willink
• 9 September 1954, to the Liège University
• 18 October 1954, to the Liège University
• 6 November 1954, to Robert Burchfield
• 17 November 1954, to Rayner Heppenstall
• 1-2 December 1954, to Rayner Heppenstall
• 13 December 1954, to Rayner Heppenstall
• 1955, to David Masson
• 1955, to August Closs (two letters)
• c. 1955/6, to G.E. Selby
• 2 March 1955, to Mr Derrick Parnum
• 2 May 1955, to Miss Turnbull
• 12 May 1955, to Rayner Unwin
• 19 May 1955, to Miss Turnbull
• 13 June 1955, to Deirdre Levinson
• 26 July 1955, to Unknown fan
• 27 July 1955, to Rayner Unwin
• 28 July 1955, to Mrs Dixey
• 28 July 1955, to Jennifer Brookes-Smith
• 22 August 1955, to John Roberts
• September 1955, to Mr(s?) Souch
• 2 December 1955, to Elizabeth Jennings
• 12 December 1955, to David Masson
• 16 December 1955, to Mr. Capan
• 1956, to unknown fan
• 1 January 1956, to Mr Polet
• 28 January 1956, to Doris Elizabeth Sykes
• 8 March 1956, to William Galbraith
• 21 March 1956, to E. Rasdall
• 28 March 1956, to Patricia Kirke
• 12 April 1956, to Mr. Earle
• 16 April 1956, to H. Cotton Minchin (see also Letter 187)
• 28 April 1956, to Deirdre Levinson
• ?Early July 1956, to Doris Elizabeth Sykes
• 19 September 1956, to Terence Tiller
• 22 November 1956, to Miss Stanley-Smith
• 19 December 1956, to Miss Stanley-Smith
• 20 December 1956, to Deirdre Levinson
• 24 December 1956, to Patricia Kirke
• 1956-58, to Peter Alford (four letters)
• 9 April 1957, to Mr Hayward
• 24 April 1957, to Michael George Tolkien
• 26 June 1957, to Deirdre Levinson
• 5 August 1957, to Jerome W. Archer, Director of Libraries at Marquette University
• 9/10 November 1957, to Przemyslaw Mroczkowski
• 17 November 1957, to Dr. Herbert Schiro
• 17 November 1957, to Przemyslaw Mroczkowski
• 1958, to Przemyslaw Mroczkowski (two letters)
• 10 January 1958, to Michael George Tolkien
• 3 April 1958, to an unknown Dutchman
• 27 May 1958, to Nancy Smith
• 14 October 1958, to Rhona Beare
• 20 October 1958, to Misses E. Taylor and J. Taylor
• 25 October 1958, to Deborah Webster
• 26 October 1958, to Mrs L.M. Cutts
• 5 March 1959, to William Ready
• 8 November 1959, to Naomi Mitchison
• December 1959, to Przemyslaw Mroczkowski

1960s

• 196?, to Przemyslaw Mroczkowski
• 196?, to Dorothy
• 1960-1973, to Dorothy Wood
• Late 1960s, to Michael Blashka
• 13 January 1960, to Elizabeth Jones (per procurationem)
• ?April 1960, to the editor of Triode
• 7 July 1960, to H.W. Donner
• 5 January 1961, to Ossendrijver (see also Letter 227)
• 9 May 1961, to Mr. Hart
• 18 May 1961, to Lars Gustafsson
• 23 May 1961, to Rayner Unwin
• 1 June 1961, to Jan Broberg
• 8 June 1961, to Rhona Beare
• 13 November 1961, to Paul Barnetson
• 15 November 1961, to Jane Neave
• 29 December 1961, to Miss Perry
• 1 February 1962, to Cor Blok
• 20 July 1962, to Alina Dadlez
• 19 September 1962, to Alina Dadlez
• 14 November 1962, to Captain H. Cotton Minchin
• 1963, to T.P. Dunning
• 17 February 1963, to Miss Julie Cape
• 21 February 1963, to Mrs Gill
• 6 April 1963, to People
• 18 April-6 May 1963, to Mr. and Mrs. Kloos
• 22 September-c. 3 October 1963, to Eileen Elgar
• 21 October 1963, to Mrs Munby
• 28 November 1963, to George Sayer
• December 1963, to Jared C. Lobdell
• 4 December 1963, to Miss Clark
• 6 December 1963, to Ossendrijver
• c. 16 December 1963, to Baronne A. Baeyens
• Christmas 1963, to Nancy Smith
• 18 January 1964, to Justin Arundale
• 20-26 January 1964, to Przemyslaw Mroczkowski
• 5 March 1964, to Eileen Elgar
• 30 May 1964, to J. Sibley
• 13-15 June 1964, to Mr. W.R. Matthews
• 10 July 1964, to Alan White
• 15 July 15 1964, to Miss J.L. Curry
• 10 August 1964, to Miss Carole Ward
• 30 August 1964, to L. Sprague de Camp
• 11 November 1964, to Clyde S. Kilby
• 31 December 1964, to Miss Ingeborg Korff
• 6 January 1965, to Michael George Tolkien
• 24 January 1965, to Joan O. Falconer
• 28 May 1965, to unknown reader
• 16 September 1965, to Michael George Tolkien
• 4 October 1965, to Agatha Carew Hunt
• 20 October 1965, to Timothy J. Wheeler
• 30 October 1965, to Michael George Tolkien
• 30 October 1965, to J.L.N. O'Loughlin
• 6 December 1965, G.S. Rigby Jr.
• 9 December 1965, to William McCullam
• 9 December 1965, to Jane Dixon
• 9 December 1965, to Miss Jaworski
• 9 December 1965, to Christine Jones
• 18 December 1965, to Clyde S. Kilby
• 1966, to Charles Calleja
• 7 January 1966, to Roger Shaw
• 10 January 1966, to Timothy J. Wheeler
• 12 January 1966, to David Hicks
• 10 February 1966, to Donald A. Wollheim
• 1966, to Rod Jellema
• 9 March 1966, to Roger Verhulst
• 21 March 1966, to George Sayer
• 8 April 1966, to Roger Verhulst
• 12 April 1966, to Mother Mary Anthony
• 12 April 1966, to James Ridolfo
• 3 May 1966, to Roger Verhulst
• 6 May 1966, to Martin M. Snapp, Jr.
• 11 May 1966, to Mr. Walker
• 30 May 1966, to Nancy Smith
• 1 June 1966, to Royston F. Porthouse
• 29 July 1966, to Michael George Tolkien (see also Letter 289)
• 29 July 1966, to Max Rouslin
• 12 September 1966, to Rose MacNamara
• 11 October 1966, to Clyde S. Kilby
• 12 October 1966, to Kenneth I. Rasmussen, Jr.
• 17 October 1966, to a Primary School in Acocks Green
• November 1966, to Harry C. Bauer
• 7 November 1966, to Gene Wolfe
• 14 December 1966, to Father Hugh Maycock
• c. 1966-67, to Dick Plotz
• c. 1967-70, to Evelyn B. Byrne
• 2 January 1967, to Otto B. Lindhardt
• 2 January 1967, to Peyton Moss
• 5 January 1967, to Joy Hill
• 8 February 1967, to C.N. Manlove
• 1 March 1967, to Hans-Jörg Modlmayr
• 16 March 1967, to Hans-Jörg Modlmayr
• 21 March 1967, to Humphrey Carpenter
• 17 April 1967, to J.D. Gilbert
• 28 April 1967, to John Leyerle
• 9 May 1967, to Oscar Morland
• 28 August 1967, to Mr Joukes
• 18 September 1967, to Elsie Honeybourne
• 4 December 1967, to Roger Verhulst
• 7 December 1967, to Hans-Jörg Modlmayr
• 14 December 1967, to Rosfrith Murray
• 21 December 1967, to Elsie Honeybourne
• 1968, to Mr David Masson
• 4 January 1968, to Ken Jackson
• 29 January 1968, to Ken Jackson
• May 1968, to Mary Fairburn
• 4 June 1968, to Clyde S. Kilby
• August 1968, to Ingrid Pridgeon
• 2 August 1968, to Robert Havard
• 4 September 1968, to Mary Fairburn
• 29 September 1968, to Billy Callahan
• 10 October 1968, to Mary Fairburn
• 16 October 1968, to Niall Hoskin
• 4 November 1968, to Mary Fairburn
• 15 March 1969, to Amy Ronald
• 20 March 1969, to Amy Ronald
• 10 April 1969, to Mrs Mroczkowska
• 28 May 1969, to Anthony D. Howlett
• June 1969, to Joy Hill
• 30 June 1969, to Paul Bibire
• 1 August 1969, to Mr Burrows
• ?Early November 1969, to Leslie Holloway

1970s

• ?Late summer or autumn 1970, to a Mr. Wood
• 7 January 1970, to Michael George Tolkien
• ?12 April 1970, to Tom Shippey
• 11 September 1970, to Robert Burchfield, (largest part published as Letter 316)
• 14 December 1970 to W.A.R. Hadley
• 1971, to Hilary Tolkien
• 7 April 1971, to Randy Trimmer
• 10 June 1071, to "My dear Ladies"
• 21 June 1971, to Brian Miller
• 11 December 1971, to George and Moira Sayer
• 24 December 1971, to Eileen Elgar
• 26 December 1971, to Joy Hill
• 28 December 1971, to W.B. Crouch
• 30 January 1972, to Michael George Tolkien
• 6 February 1972, to Vera Chapman and the Tolkien Society
• 19 April 1972, to Eva Heilborn (per procurationem)
• 28 April 1972, to Mrs Robertson
• 23 May 1972, to Sir Patrick Browne (letter 336)
• 11 June 1972, to Robert Burchfield
• 12 October 1972, to Rayner Unwin
• 17 January 1973, to N.J. Kyle (per procurationem)
• 25 January 1973, to Patrick Hunt
• 8 March 1973, to Clyde S. Kilby
• 20 April 1973, to Dr. Denis Tolhurst
• 20 April 1973, to John Higgins
• 30 May 1973, to Philip Brown
• 5 June 1973, to James A.H. Murray
• 14 June 1973, to Elena Jeronimides
• 14 June 1973, to Bruce Charlton (per procurationem)
• 8 July 1973, to Canon Norman Power

Unknown year

• 19?? to Simonne d'Ardenne
• 19?? to Clyde S. Kilby
• 19?? to Richard Lupoff
• 19?? to Bruce Mitchell
• 19?? to Christopher Tolkien
• 19?? to an unknown reader (draft; topic: Sindarin and Quenya)

Unexposed collections and rumours

Wheelbarrows at Dawn

Similarly to what was done in the Black & White Ogre Country: The Lost Tales of Hilary Tolkien, glimpses of the correspondence between J.R.R. Tolkien and his brother Hilary were supposed to be published in late 2010 in Wheelbarrows at Dawn: Memories of Hilary Tolkien. However, the publication of the latter book was cancelled, and the letters remain unpublished (as of November 2010).

Correspondence between Tolkien and R.W. Burchfield

During the years 1953-72, Tolkien corresponded with R.W. Burchfield. The collection of letters is kept at the Bodleian Library:

Correspondence between J.R.R. Tolkien and R.W. Burchfield, 1953-72. / Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 7284, fols. 1-16. / Extent: 16 leaves. / Comprises ten manuscript, and typescript letters, and one copy letter from Tolkien to Burchfield, relating to Burchfield's attendance at tutorials, his search for housing in Oxford, his application for funding for his research, his search for an academic post, his congratulations on the publication of The Fellowship of the Ring, an extension for his work on 'Ormulum', and Tolkien's edition of Ancrene Wisse: The English Text of the Ancrene Riwle, and one letter from Burchfield to Tolkien relating to the printing of Ancrene Wisse. Also a description of the letters by Elizabeth Burchfield, widow of R.W. Burchfield. / Acquisition: Bequest of R.W. Burchfield, per Elizabeth Burchfield, Dec. 2004.

Correspondence between Tolkien and Pablo Martínez del Río

José Manuel Ferrández Bru has noted that a collection of Tolkien's letters to Pablo Martínez del Río, whose younger cousins Tolkien took to vacation in Paris in 1913, has been donated to the Centro de Estudios de Historia de México of Condumex. As of 2011, Ferrández Bru wrote that Tolkien's letters unfortunately "are mixed with huge numbers of other documents" and that it will take years before they have been catalogued and available for research.

Correspondence between Tolkien and Sterling E. Lanier

In an article in Locus #149 (1973), the science fiction author Sterling E. Lanier mentions his correspondence with Tolkien, consisting of a "dozen or so" letters. John D. Rateliff has provided the following quote from Lanier's article:

His last great legacy to the world, the Silmarillion, has been saved. He wrote me years ago, that it was done in verse! He seemed puzzled in a mild way, that at the time, no publisher seemed interested in it. I recall asking what he was doing for a comic or light element, since no Hobbits existed this early. He agreed this was a problem, but felt it could be solved. I can't wait."

Letters to The Society

A collection of Tolkien's letters to The Society is kept at the Bodleian Library.

Letters to Simonne d'Ardenne

John and Priscilla Tolkien mention briefly in The Tolkien Family Album that Simonne d'Ardenne: "was especially close to Priscilla, up until her death in 1986. She entrusted to Priscilla a great bundle of letters she had received from J.R.R.T. over a period of forty years." (p.68). This large collection of letters seems never to have reached a publication.

Letters to the Hogans

In the article "Tolkien's time in 'Erin'" (in anticipation of the publication of the Irish translation of The Hobbit), published in The Irish Times on 17 March 2012, Dr. Tom Hogan mentions that Tolkien:

stayed many times in our house on visits to Ireland. These visits started in the 1950s. He came to Ireland for a couple of weeks each year acting as an external examiner of English in UCD. He worked alongside my late father Jeremiah who was professor of English there at the time. A number of letters from Tolkien to us are in my possession.

No dates of individual letters are provided, but Hogan quotes from several letters in the article.

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (expanded edition)

On February 2nd, 2004, TheOneRing.net featured an article on the Tolkien Convention in Brussels. An expanded edition of The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien was promised:

"...on the occasion of TFY's presentation on January 19, Marco Respinti and Oronzo Cilli, in the presence of Elisabetta Sgarbi (Editorial Director of Bompiani), spoke of the possibility of a revision of the Italian edition of Tolkien's letters, gathered by his son Christopher and his official biographer, Humprey Carpenter. Bompiani decided to publish a new edition, revised and enlarged, and the Italian Tolkien Society is in contant with an english publisher to have an international version of the book. The volume will be introduced by an essay of Priscilla Tolkien and it will boast contributions by Tolkien experts as Mike Foster, Christopher Garbowski, Brian Rosebury, Andrew McMurry, Paolo Paron, Gianfranco de Turris, Adolfo Morganti, Marco Respinti, Oronzo Cilli, Stefano Giuliano, Jimmy Chavez, Jeroen Van Den Berg, David Beatene and many others. In fact Cilli has managed to obtain from the British Public Record Office the rights to the publication of some documents regarding Tolkien's experience in the First World War. The new edition might include these new documents (never published before in any book) and a short essay on Tolkien and the war."

The Tea Towel Letter

The web site Tolkien Collector's Guide has an article (on a rare tea towel) with a reference from a supposedly unpublished letter. The background is that George Allen and Unwin in 1971 commissioned the towel, featuring a map by Pauline Baynes, on the occasion of a celebration. The author of the article says: "[...] it is clear Tolkien was there, since I read in an (unpublished) letter he himself had received such a teatowel at the 'party' or 'meeting' and was very happy with it."

Hoaxes

The Letters, Part II

Throughout the early issues of Vinyar Tengwar, there was reference to "The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien part II", but it was revealed to be a joke.

Dr. Higgins and possible eBay frauds

The forum of the website Tolkien Collector's Guide contains discussions (in which Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull have taken part) on a circulation on eBay of possible fraud Tolkien letters. Among these are said to be letters adressed to a "Dr. Higgins". Many of these contested letters are typewritten, with a signature by J.R.R. Tolkien in blue ink.

See also

• Images of letters by J.R.R. Tolkien

External links

• Marquette University collection of Tolkien letters
• Marion E. Wade Center collection of Tolkien letters
• Tolkien Collector's Guide