By Philomythos
Two catalogue questions
10 Feb, 2021
2021-2-10 10:00:07 PM UTC
2021-2-10 10:00:07 PM UTC
1) In "J.R.R. Tolkien: The Hobbit Drawings, Watercolors, and Manuscripts", there is a letter to G.E. Selby (14 December 1937). According to Tolkien Gateway, the letter "was fully reproduced and transcribed" in this exhibition catalogue. Tolkienbooks.net likewise says: "The letter is reproduced in full in The Hobbit Drawings, Watercolors and Manuscripts (1987)." Hammond, however, says nothing about a reproduction, referring only to p.4, where the transcription is. Having gotten a pdf scan of select pages from the catalogue through my library, including p.4 where the letter appears, it does not look like the statements of Tolkien Gateway and Tolkienbooks.net are accurate: There appears to only be a transcription of the letter and not a reproduction/photograph. However, since I do not have access to the full booklet (I have 14 of its 44 pages), I cannot verify that the reproduction of the letter does not occur on some other page. So, my question is, does anyone know if there is a reproduction of this letter in this catalogue? If so, on what page? If not, is there a photograph reproduction of it (or portion(s) of it) elsewhere, perhaps in one of the auction catalogues? I see that there's a picture of its penultimate page on Tolkien Gateway, but I don't know where this was taken from.
2) The entry "Profiles in History: Catalogue 24" on Tolkien Gateway's bibliography says, "Includes inscription." What do we know about this "inscription"? A photo of it, apparently, can be seen here. It's the rhyme that Gandalf mutters on the way to Minas Tirith, but is this really Tolkien's handwriting? If so, do we know where it was extracted from to find its way onto this Alan Lee illustration?
Thanks again.
2) The entry "Profiles in History: Catalogue 24" on Tolkien Gateway's bibliography says, "Includes inscription." What do we know about this "inscription"? A photo of it, apparently, can be seen here. It's the rhyme that Gandalf mutters on the way to Minas Tirith, but is this really Tolkien's handwriting? If so, do we know where it was extracted from to find its way onto this Alan Lee illustration?
Thanks again.