So, the big news among Tolk folk this week is the release of the revised and expanded edition of THE LETTERS OF J. R. R. TOLKIEN. The original book came out in 1981 and ran to 462 pages; this new volume passes the seven hundred page mark (708 to be exact). The new material comes from restoration of previously abridged passages; I'll particularly be interested in additions of previously unknown or uncollected letters.*
I expect like its predecessor it'll be the most detailed and insightful source for 'Tolkien on Tolkien', both in what Tolkien says about his works in letters to his readers and in autobiographical passages.
Of course this is not a Complete Letters -- that's probably still a good thirty years off. But the original LETTERS is probably, along with OFS, the work by Tolkien I most frequently consult. And I don't expect that to change.
So, a good day for a major resource to be enhanced and re-released.
I know I'll be working my way through it for weeks to come.
--John R.
*I assume any letter that appeared in the 1981 version will be grandfathered in
I got it today. By my count there are 155 new letters. I say "by my count", because the original numbering has been retained (a wise move, since so many studies of JRRT refer to this book by number of letter) and the new letters are designated with the number of the preceding letter plus a, b, c, and so on.
ReplyDeleteI had gone back and forth over whether or not to get this, but it sounds like you think it will be significantly new material worth having. Excellent!
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