Discuss Letter from Mabel Tolkien to John Benjamin Tolkien and Mary Jane Tolkien on 4 March 1893

ToTheBottleIGo wrote:

Letter link: Letter from Mabel Tolkien to John Benjamin Tolkien and Mary Jane Tolkien • 4 March 1893 (#988)

Is this the same letter that is (partially) reproduced in the Tolkien Family Album p. 17?

Firstly, thank you for being the first to open a letter discussion ? I don't know if you win a prize but you get our gratitude for exploring the Guide.

Secondly, indeed it is. We have not gotten to the Tolkien Family Album yet but I have made a note to add this information to the entry. Many thanks.

The image provided in TFA is the same image but less detailed. The copy reproduced in Maker (noted in the references) is a much clearer image and readable.

Happy with the honour :). The TFA reproduction is quite hard to read indeed. Does Maker include a transcription or just a reproduction of the letter itself? I presume this is also a partial reproduction as in TFA.

ToTheBottleIGo wrote:

Does Maker include a transcription or just a reproduction of the letter itself? I presume this is also a partial reproduction as in TFA.

A few select lines were included in Maker (p. 116) but Maker neglects to note the reference as I can see. The quotes are found in the last paragraph that starts "Mabel had a nursemaid...".

Yes, both Maker and TFA reproduce the same image (of the first page, from a two page letter) and the top portion of the same page is reproduced in J.R.R. Tolkien: Life and Legend, p. 10, item 6.

Life and Legend reproduces some items and excerpts from the 1992 exhibition in Oxford for Tolkien's centenery and there are a few other quotes in that (again from the first page) and a brief description after those quotes. Of interest in that description is mention of Tolkien being bitten by a tarantula which must be from the second page.

I didn't attend as I was only 11 when the 1992 exhibition took place so I cannot be certain that only the first page was displayed (maybe those who attended might know?) but the index to the exhibition only notes "Family papers 1/33(7)" being present. But, 1/33(7) contains multiple items including item 7 below this entry. So it doesn't tell me anything more unfortunately.

There is one last mention of the letter, in Biography and Carpenter does not offer any reference to the letter date, or in fact that this information comes from a letter at all. Page 27 (HarperCollins) beginning "There were other disturbances..." and concludes as best I can tell with Mabel's mention of Tolkien looking like an elf.

Thank you for looking into this so thoroughly! Greatly appreciated! Is the end goal to cite as much of the publications of each letter on the letterpage as possible or only the most complete or best reproduction?

ToTheBottleIGo wrote:

Thank you for looking into this so thoroughly! Greatly appreciated! Is the end goal to cite as much of the publications of each letter on the letterpage as possible or only the most complete or best reproduction?

The references shown on the letters are able to be "ordered" (most important listed first, descending from there). The reference system does need some visual improvements - I'd like to make it clear a "primary" (or multiple primary) references, and we do need to go through and make sure the references are properly ordered.

The goal is to eventually have all publications that quote from or refer to or discuss each letter, and to categorize those references so you know what you might find when you track that reference down.

We also intend to add referencing to different editions of a work (differing page numbers, and eBook references) over time.

You are most welcome. The question itself pushed me to gather the details from notes and add them, so thanks for the question. Exactly what we hope the guide will become over time as more of the community use it.

The idea is to reference all known instances as we come across them. This will of course take many years and I have a note for next time the group talk to mention something about how we can make sure updated letters have some sort of updated tag so users know without having to look through letters manually.

Thank you so much for this resource. I have used this already quite a lot. Even before it was official released ;)