The Ready Letter

So, last night we were watching ANTIQUES ROAD SHOW at my father-in-law's when Janice and I decided to take a walk and enjoy the sunset, which was indeed beautiful. When we came back in, Janice's dad told us that as soon as we'd left there had been a Tolkien letter on, with mentions of Taum and Marquette. And while my 'hot-spot' had refused to work the whole time I was in Harvard, Janice's smart phone did work and she was able to find the entry online from that episode which discussed the letter in more detail and included a complete transcription as well as a complete facsimile image of the original. Here's the link:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/stories/articles/2015/05/25/tolkien-letter-marquette-university/

The letter discusses Tolkien's projected visit to Marquette to give a lecture, which sadly never came to pass, as well as his having turned over some of the manuscripts (e.g., THE HOBBIT) to Bertram Rota, the London book-dealer who brokered the deal. All in all, an important piece, and I'm glad to see it resurface after all these years.

--John R.
enroute home at last (posting this from the Milwaukee airport)