Letter to Clyde S. Kilby (18 December 1965)
From Tolkien Gateway
On 18 December 1965, J.R.R. Tolkien wrote a letter to Clyde S. Kilby.
- Subject: Tolkien accepts Kilby's suggestion to help him work on The Silmarillion manuscripts.
- Publication: A part of this letter was published as letter 282 in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. An excerpt from the letter (only containing material from letter 282) has also been reprinted in SEVEN, Volume 27 (p. 49). Still another part of the letter (including a line not found in the above sources) was published in The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide: Chronology (pp. 649-50).
Extract[edit | edit source]
I was deeply touched by [your letter], indeed overwhelmed by your generosity in offering to sacrifice your precious time (and holiday) in helping me. … [Y]our offer under heads 2) and 3) are extremely attractive. … If I had the assistance of a scholar at once sympathetic and yet critical, such as yourself, I feel I might make some of it publishable. It needs the actual presence of a friend and adviser at one’s side, which is just what you offer.
