Great job! What an effort it must have been (and probably will continue to be.) It is really fascinating to be able to search through the letter collection. Thanks for pulling this together!

Thank you very much for putting this together this will be a terrific resource that I will be using frequently, I am sure. Tolkiengateway has published a considerable amount of letters with photographs and transcriptions, will there be references to that database? I have no idea if these publications are done with consent by the estate.

ToTheBottleIGo wrote:

Thank you very much for putting this together this will be a terrific resource that I will be using frequently, I am sure. Tolkiengateway has published a considerable amount of letters with photographs and transcriptions, will there be references to that database? I have no idea if these publications are done with consent by the estate.

Thanks to both you and Lance for the kind words. We truly hope that it will a great use to many among our community.

On tolkiengateway, if they were the source of our entry then they are referenced but otherwise we have always attempted to go to the original source (or when an auction is the source but TG have an image no longer found on the auction site) with supporting references from books, journals, etc. We certainly will not be taking their approach with letters. Respect for the copyright holders is at the very heart of how we add any letter. That is not intended to suggest that TG don't respect copyright and I don't know if they have sought permission, but here we believe that using summaries, discussion, referencing precisely will in time be the best way to deal with these letters.

The ability to search the content without infringing on copyright shows how well thought through this project is. I also love the fact that TCG numbers will remain the same. Especially with the new volume that might cause confusion on what letter is referenced. (Supposing that numbers will differ between the two Carpenter editions) Let's hope the scholarly community embraces this as a unambiguous way of referencing.

ToTheBottleIGo wrote:

The ability to search the content without infringing on copyright shows how well thought through this project is. I also love the fact that TCG numbers will remain the same. Especially with the new volume that might cause confusion on what letter is referenced. (Supposing that numbers will differ between the two Carpenter editions) Let's hope the scholarly community embraces this as a unambiguous way of referencing.

Thank you. Yes, it was always on our minds and will continue to inform us as we move forward.

I am really excited to see how HarperCollins handle the letters. Trotter and I especially are at opposite ends, and one of us will be spot on while the other (probably me) will be flat broke wrong ?

Thanks again for the encouragement ?

Impressive. Mighty addition. Well done my friends.....you bow to no one. You should be highly pleased with the fruits of your labour for your seed(s) will grow into a beautiful long living white tree for the fellowship to respect,use,share and improve knowledge of our beloved professor. Thank you deeply

Is there a way to access the Letters Guide on the TCG mobile site? I have tried looking for it a few times and have been unable to access it on my phone without switching to the desktop version of the site. If not, perhaps a link might be added to the dropdown menu (maybe above "search" or under "home")?

I am using an iPhone with Safari and the mobile website. The Letters link can be found in the “Collect” drop-down…see the attached image.

You should be able to save the link as a favourite on your phone as well.

https://www.tolkienguide.com/guide/letters/

LanceFormation wrote:

I am using an iPhone with Safari and the mobile website. The Letters link can be found in the “Collect” drop-down…see the attached image.

Perfect, thank you!!