Dr. Higgins 19??
Dr. Higgins 19?? refers to three letters, claimed to be from J.R.R. Tolkien to a Dr. Higgins. The authenticity of the letters has been questioned.[1]
[edit] From the seller
A set of three (3) letters typed on J. R. R. TOLKIEN'S PERSONAL STATIONARY and SIGNED BY J. R. R. TOLKIEN. Each letter is undated and is typed (presumably by Tolkien himself) on Tolkien's Sandfield Road stationary, with Tolkien's address embossed to the upper right corner of the paper. Tolkien and his beloved wife, Edith, moved to 76 Sandfield Road, Headington, Oxford in 1953 (where they were neighbors to Tolkien's fellow member of the Inklings, Hugo Dyson, who lived at 32 Sandfield Road) and remained there until 1968. It was during his residence at Sandfield Road that "The Fellowship of the Ring", "The Two Towers", and "The Return of the King" each was published. Of his home there, W. H. Auden remarked: "He lives in a hideous house, I can't tell you how awful it is — with hideous pictures on the walls." As Tolkien's address was public and his telephone number was in the local Directory, Tolkien's time there subjected him to constant visitations by his fans. The well-meaning visits amounting to harassment, Tolkien and his wife relocated in 1968 to the more remote Bournemouth where the each thereafter died, Edith in 1971 and Tolkien in 1973. Each letter is in very good condition, with two fold lines for mailing and some rust-colored stains, and is addressed to a physician named Higgins. As one letter refers poignantly to Tolkien's sorrow upon Edith's death, Tolkien obviously took his Sandfield Road stationary with him when he relocated to Bournemouth. The content and tone of the letters makes it plain that Higgins and the Tolkiens were friends. One short letter of six lines reads simply confirms that "the arrangement would be most agreeable". The second reads: "Dear Dr. Higgins, / Thank you for your / hearty greetings this Yule. / Both my wife and I wish you a very / Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. / We join in thanking you also for / the bottle of sherry; we hope our gift / has arrived on the south coast in one piece. / With best wishes, / yours sincerely, / [Tolkien's signature]". The third letter reads: " My dear Higgins, / I am writing at this / sad time to inform you of the death of / my dear wife. / I find it incredibly hard to discuss / the matter in a letter, but look for- / ward to seeing you when I next travel / down south. / I know she was a person you held in / h gh regard and I can tell you this / feeling was reciprocated. / Please excuse the short note. / Until we meet again, / Best wishes, "/ [Tolkien's signature.]. While Tolkien corrected his typing errors in the second letter, he notably failed to do so in his sad letter announcing Edith's death. THREE ORIGINAL TYPED TOLKIEN LETTERS ON HIS PERSONAL STATIONARY EACH SIGNED BY TOLKIEN.[2]
[edit] References
- ↑ Another Tolkien eBay Letter at TolkienGuide.com (accessed 29 November 2011)
- ↑ Abebooks; seller: Allington Antiquarian Books, LLC (Winston-Salem, NC, U.S.A.)