Today I found something that might interest Kossacks, on page xxxv of part 1 of The History of the Hobbit, by John D. Ratcliff. It's a letter written by J.R.R. Tolkien in 1972 when he donated his desk to a charity called Help the Aged.
J.R.R. Tolkien, 1916 / Wiki Commons
Tolkien was always very much in love with his wife. He also loved his country in the quiet way of a Great War veteran. This letter brings these traits through.
This Desk
Was bought for me by my wife in 1927. It was my first desk, and has remained the one that I chiefly used for literary work until her death in 1971.
On it The Hobbit was entirely produced, written, typed and illustrated.
The Lord of the Rings was written and revised in many places in Oxford and elsewhere; but on this desk were also written, at various times, the manuscript drafts of Books III, IV, V, and VI, until the last words of the Tale were reached in 1949.
I have presented this desk to HELP THE AGED in memory of my wife, Edith Mary, in the hope that its sale may help this Charity to house some old people of Britain in peace and comfort.
J.R.R. Tolkien
Merton College
Oxford
July 27,
1972.
The desk and the letter eventually made their way to the
Wade Center at Wheaton College, where it may be viewed along with other literary furniture, including the desk, chair, and the famous family wardrobe of Tolkien's great friend, C.S. Lewis.
Well, that's all I have for now. What do you think?
Pax.