Trotter wrote:

If anyone knows of any institution or private collector who has a copy of the Inter-University Magazine Vol.8, No.2, May 1927 then please let me know.

Would love to try and get the full text of The Grey Bridge of Tavrobel.

You and me both Trotter I have put out some feelers to various contacts who can hopefully help us.

This is Vol.8, No.1, this issue immediately before this.

https://cuislandora.wrlc.org/islandora/object/cuislandora%3A86245

ibid wrote:

This is Vol.8, No.1, this issue immediately before this.

https://cuislandora.wrlc.org/islandora/object/cuislandora%3A86245

So close...

Looking at this some more, it seems to me that no one has ever seen this issue. As I'm understanding it now, the versions printed in BoLT and Tolkien and the Great War were based on Tolkien's copy, not the IUM, and that we only know which issue it was even in because a review in a different magazine mentions that the May 1927 issue contained "verses by J.R. Tolkien".

Not sure if I'm interpreting this correctly though.

ibid wrote:

Looking at this some more, it seems to me that no one has ever seen this issue. As I'm understanding it now, the versions printed in BoLT and Tolkien and the Great War were based on Tolkien's copy, not the IUM, and that we only know which issue it was even in because a review in a different magazine mentions that the May 1927 issue contained "verses by J.R. Tolkien".

Not sure if I'm interpreting this correctly though.

This is correct. It was mentioned in the May 28th issue of The Tablet - International Catholic Newspaper as mentioned by Hammond/Scull.

Another interesting article on the subject.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/27/bus ... disney-public-domain.html

This is an article from a South African attorney about the ridiculous and frivolous Amazon/Tolkien Estate lawsuit in the US at the moment, but this section is interesting.

Under our Copyright Act, the term of copyright protection conferred on the author of a literary work subsists for the life of the author plus fifty years, calculated from the end of the year in which the author dies. If this battle was to make its way before a South African Court, a key date to consider is that J.R.R. Tolkien passed away on 2 September 1973, meaning that, from a South African perspective, the copyright in these works will fall into the public domain on 31 December 2023.

https://www.golegal.co.za/author-copyright-infringement/

Could this be an opportunity for HC / The Tolkien Estate to produce a relatively comprehensive compendium of hard to get works which will come into the public domain soon? I'd certainly buy it.

Amon Rudh wrote:

Could this be an opportunity for HC / The Tolkien Estate to produce a relatively comprehensive compendium of hard to get works which will come into the public domain soon? I'd certainly buy it.

Wouldn't be up to HC, the Estate would get the final call on anything like that being reproduced. HC is already moving the look of their publications with this in mind to a certain look. That is why we are seeing the signature and monogram on all of their latest publications. It's part of their efforts to mark their products as the official Tolkien releases.