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 Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Author	J.R.R. Tolkien
Editor	Humphrey Carpenter, Christopher Tolkien
Publisher	George Allen and Unwin (UK) Houghton Mifflin (US)
Released	20 August 1981
Format	Hardcover; paperback
Pages	463
ISBN	0048260053

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien is a book of a collection of 354 letters, excerpts from letters, drafts, and endnotes by J.R.R. Tolkien. It was published in 1981, edited by his son Christopher Tolkien and his biographer Humphrey Carpenter.

Since the 1995 edition an expanded index has been added by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull.

Contents

The selection contains 354 letters, dating between October 1914, when Tolkien was an undergraduate at the University of Oxford, and August 29 1973, four days before his death.

The letters can be roughly divided in four categories:

1. Personal letters to Edith Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien and his other children
2. Letters about Tolkien's career as a professor of Anglo-Saxon
3. Letters to his publishers at Allen and Unwin explaining his failing to meet the deadline and related topics
4. Letters about Middle-earth

The last category is especially of interest to Tolkien fans, as it provides a lot of information about Middle-earth which cannot be found elsewhere in the works published by Tolkien himself.

It is remarked thus:

During the composition and the publication process of his literary works, J.R.R. Tolkien continually corresponded with friends, family members, colleagues, and his publishers, and for years after the publication of The Lord of the Rings, with his readers as well. Indeed, many of his letters are direct (inasmuch as Tolkien strove to be direct) answers to questions about which people had written to him. His letters contain much background and expository material that never made it to publication, and also a great deal of explanation of his intent or purpose. He often went to great lengths to clear up readers' misunderstandings. In a few instances, however, Tolkien didn't actually provide a clear, if any, answer to the question (for example, "Who is Tom Bombadil?" or "What happened to the Entwives?"), although he did address these topics in his letters, thus leaving us with at least the final word on the subject from the author himself.
—Mike Brinza

Publication history and gallery

UK Editions

1981 edition   1990 edition   1995 edition   2006 edition   2023 Revised and Expanded edition

• George Allen and Unwin hardcover (1981), pp. 463. ISBN 0048260053
• Unwin Paperbacks paperback (1990), ISBN 0044406649
• HarperCollins paperback (1995), pp. 480. ISBN 0261102656
• HarperCollins paperback (2006), ISBN 0261102656
• HarperCollins hardcover (2023), ISBN 0008628769

See also

• Letter receivers
• Letters not published in "The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien"
• J.R.R. Tolkien's Letters to Rhona Beare
• J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography

External links

• Corrigenda to the Index to Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (1999)
• Concerning Hobbits and Philip Marlowe New York Times Review
• FAQ-Like Guide to the Letters (archived 6 June 2013)