Discuss Carpenter #136: Letter from J.R.R. Tolkien to Rayner Unwin on 24 March 1953

Hi william and welcome!

Those letters are both to his publisher, and I believe likely remain in the George Allen & Unwin Archives that HarperCollins still has. The only public material is what Carpenter reproduced in Letters.

https://collections.reading.ac.uk/spec ... -allen-unwin-ltd-archive/

william wrote:

Letter link: Carpenter #136: Letter from J.R.R. Tolkien to Rayner Unwin • 24 March 1953 (#352)

Hi all, Newby here. I am seeking information on TCG 352 and TCG 353

1. Where can one read the full transcipts of these?
2. Where are the originals held?

Thanks in advance for all info

Hello William and welcome. Carpenter #136: Letter from J.R.R. Tolkien to Rayner Unwin • 24 March 1953 (#352) and Carpenter #137: Letter from J.R.R. Tolkien to Rayner Unwin • 11 April 1953 (#353) are more famously known as Letters #136 and #137 and can be found in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien edited by Humphrey Carpenter. We don't hold the transcripts as they are under copyright, with the Tolkien Estate in the case of Tolkien's letters.

Do note that a new edition of Tolkien's letters will be published in November which will include new letters, and some existing letters will be updated.

The original selection and the Revised and Updated edition.

Thank you. Those letters are from March and April respectively.

I happen to have in my hand a May 12th letter that followed on from the other two. It is 5 pages recounting among many other things, his difficulties in writing an ending for LOTR and the people he consulted for advice. I believe it to be an important letter in its own right but setting it in context of the two preceding letters would I feel add greatly to its interest.

I am open to advice in what to do with it.

Urulókë, I think that link is to the archive at Reading University, and that the Tolkien correspondence is not included in that collection, but is at HarperCollins and not open to researchers.

william wrote:

Thank you. Those letters are from March and April respectively.

I happen to have in my hand a May 12th letter that followed on from the other two. It is 5 pages recounting among many other things, his difficulties in writing an ending for LOTR and the people he consulted for advice. I believe it to be an important letter in its own right but setting it in context of the two preceding letters would I feel add greatly to its interest.

I am open to advice in what to do with it.

Wow, fantastic news and what a privilege to have a Tolkien letter yourself! I'll let the experts chime in on authentication etc., but I do hope that whether you decide to keep it or auction it off, that you'll allow photos to be either posted publicly or shared with TCG to be included in the Guide so that future Tolkien researchers and fans will be able to study the letter's contents and shed additional light on Tolkien's life and works. Thanks for coming to TCG and sharing your news!

william wrote:

Thank you. Those letters are from March and April respectively.

I happen to have in my hand a May 12th letter that followed on from the other two. It is 5 pages recounting among many other things, his difficulties in writing an ending for LOTR and the people he consulted for advice. I believe it to be an important letter in its own right but setting it in context of the two preceding letters would I feel add greatly to its interest.

I am open to advice in what to do with it.

I have sent you a PM via the site.