TCG Letter #8 / Carpenter Letter #8

Tolkien has been elected to the Rawlinson & Bosworth professorship at Oxford and must therefore resign his position at Leeds. His posting takes effect from October 1. He feels great regret at his resignation and had his predecessor not resigned suddenly he would have looked to such a position much later. He asks for Dr. Baillie's forgiveness for his sudden resignation.

In November 2023, HarperCollins published a new updated version of The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien. Tolkien hopes that Dr. Baillie is enjoying the “perfect summer” and says he has also informed the Registrar. He mentions the University's “present campaign”, stating that he cannot take part as the coming months will be very busy.