TCG Letter #1271

There is some question whether Tolkien sent this letter, Hammond and Scull say that "Tolkien drafts and probably sends a letter from Abbotsford to a Mr How at Exeter College."

Tolkien writes that he has to report to Bedford on 19 July and will therefore be unable to receive his degree the following day. He will send payment for what he owes and asks what 'caution money' he should send for his name to be retained on the College's books to receive his M.A. He asks how he should authorize the transfer of his Junior bank account to the new one as and when a President is chosen. Uncertainty surrounding this means he has been unable to sort this matter before leaving.

Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull note that it is on the rear of a draft of this letter that Tolkien writes the first version of his poem, The Happy Mariners.^{But in The Book of Lost Tales, p. 277, note 12, Christopher Tolkien regards this letter as being "unsent".[1]}

In September 2024, Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond published this manuscript, among others in their Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien.