Letter to Elsie Honeybourne (18 September 1967): Difference between revisions
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On [[18 September]] [[1967]], [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] wrote '''[[Letters not published in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien|a letter]] to Elsie Honeybourne'''.<ref>[[Wayne G. Hammond]] and [[Christina Scull]], "[http://www.hammondandscull.com/addenda/chronology.html Addenda and Corrigenda to The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide (2006) Vol. 1: Chronology]" at [http://www.hammondandscull.com/index.html HammondandScull.com] (accessed 22 October 2011)</ref> | |||
*'''Publication:''' A description and photograph of the letter was included in ''[[Bloomsbury Modern First Editions, Manuscripts and Autograph Letters, English and Continental Literature and History 24 May 2007]]''.<ref>[http://www.tolkienbooks.net/php/details.php?reference=74200 Modern First Editions. 2007] at [http://www.tolkienbooks.net/ TolkienBooks.net] (accessed 29 November 2011)</ref> | *'''Publication:''' A description and photograph of the letter was included in ''[[Bloomsbury Modern First Editions, Manuscripts and Autograph Letters, English and Continental Literature and History 24 May 2007]]''.<ref>[http://www.tolkienbooks.net/php/details.php?reference=74200 Modern First Editions. 2007] at [http://www.tolkienbooks.net/ TolkienBooks.net] (accessed 29 November 2011)</ref> | ||
*'''Description:''' One page both sides (hand-written), 5.5 x 7, personal letterhead.<ref>[http://rrauction.com/past_auction_item.cfm?ID=3153061 Item 555 - J.R.R. Tolkien Catalog 324 (Aug 2007)] at [http://rrauction.com RR Auction] (accessed 22 October 2011)</ref> | *'''Description:''' One page both sides (hand-written), 5.5 x 7, personal letterhead.<ref>[http://rrauction.com/past_auction_item.cfm?ID=3153061 Item 555 - J.R.R. Tolkien Catalog 324 (Aug 2007)] at [http://rrauction.com RR Auction] (accessed 22 October 2011)</ref> | ||
== | ==Transcription== | ||
Thank you very much indeed for your generous and delightful letter, one of the most warming and comforting that I have received. As I said in the | {{blockquote|If I dare say so a very hobbit-like kindness to send a present on your own birthday!<br/><br/>PROFESSOR J. R. R. TOLKIEN<br/>Oxford 61639<br/>76 SANDFIELD ROAD<br/>HEADINGTON<br/>OXFORD<br/><br/>September 18th.<br/>1967.<br/><br/>Dear Miss Honeybourne,<br/><br/>Thank you very much indeed for your generous and delightful letter, one of the most warming and comforting that I have received.<br/><br/>As I said in the ‘Foreword’ to the American paper-back edition (Ballantine Books), I wrote The Lord of the Rings because I wished ‘to try my hand at a really long story that would hold the attention of readers, amuse them, delight them, and at times maybe excite them or deeply move them.’ As a guide I had only my own feelings for what is appealing or moving; and it has been a great pleasure (and a surprise) to find that so many other people have similar feelings. But no one has written me a letter more warm, and few have come near it.<br/><br/>I am specially grateful for your pleasure in the names: I took a great deal of trouble with them.<br/><br/>Your own name is a delightful one, and brings to me a suggestion of Kinship. It must be derived (as so very many English surnames) from a village name, but the only ones of that name that I know of are the adjacent villages of Church H (Worcs) and Cow H (Glo). These are not far from Blackminster where my brother has a small fruit-farm, in lands where my maternal ancestors (Suffield) can be traced far back.<br/><br/>It is such a good name that I must, in any future more complete map of the Shire (often asked for), find a place for it. It is one of the comparatively rare place-names that means what it says: a stream, of sweet water and/or flowing through flowery meads.<br/><br/>Yours sincerely and gratefully<br/><br/>J.R.R. Tolkien<br/><br/>Incidentally: Cow seems to be a corruption of older Callow ‘bare’ prob. because the land was free from bushes}} | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
*[[Elsie Honeybourne 21 December 1967]] | *[[Letter to Elsie Honeybourne (21 December 1967)]] | ||
== External links == | == External links == | ||
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*[http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/Tolkien_Letter_for_sale.php Tolkien Library] | *[http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/Tolkien_Letter_for_sale.php Tolkien Library] | ||
{{references}} | {{references}} | ||
[[Category:Letters]] | {{title}} | ||
[[Category:Letters|Honeybourne, Elsie (1967-09-18)]] | |||
Latest revision as of 08:32, 18 March 2024
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On 18 September 1967, J.R.R. Tolkien wrote a letter to Elsie Honeybourne.[1]
- Publication: A description and photograph of the letter was included in Bloomsbury Modern First Editions, Manuscripts and Autograph Letters, English and Continental Literature and History 24 May 2007.[2]
- Description: One page both sides (hand-written), 5.5 x 7, personal letterhead.[3]
Transcription[edit | edit source]
If I dare say so a very hobbit-like kindness to send a present on your own birthday!
PROFESSOR J. R. R. TOLKIEN
Oxford 61639
76 SANDFIELD ROAD
HEADINGTON
OXFORD
September 18th.
1967.
Dear Miss Honeybourne,
Thank you very much indeed for your generous and delightful letter, one of the most warming and comforting that I have received.
As I said in the ‘Foreword’ to the American paper-back edition (Ballantine Books), I wrote The Lord of the Rings because I wished ‘to try my hand at a really long story that would hold the attention of readers, amuse them, delight them, and at times maybe excite them or deeply move them.’ As a guide I had only my own feelings for what is appealing or moving; and it has been a great pleasure (and a surprise) to find that so many other people have similar feelings. But no one has written me a letter more warm, and few have come near it.
I am specially grateful for your pleasure in the names: I took a great deal of trouble with them.
Your own name is a delightful one, and brings to me a suggestion of Kinship. It must be derived (as so very many English surnames) from a village name, but the only ones of that name that I know of are the adjacent villages of Church H (Worcs) and Cow H (Glo). These are not far from Blackminster where my brother has a small fruit-farm, in lands where my maternal ancestors (Suffield) can be traced far back.
It is such a good name that I must, in any future more complete map of the Shire (often asked for), find a place for it. It is one of the comparatively rare place-names that means what it says: a stream, of sweet water and/or flowing through flowery meads.
Yours sincerely and gratefully
J.R.R. Tolkien
Incidentally: Cow seems to be a corruption of older Callow ‘bare’ prob. because the land was free from bushes
See also[edit | edit source]
External links[edit | edit source]
References
- ↑ Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull, "Addenda and Corrigenda to The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide (2006) Vol. 1: Chronology" at HammondandScull.com (accessed 22 October 2011)
- ↑ Modern First Editions. 2007 at TolkienBooks.net (accessed 29 November 2011)
- ↑ Item 555 - J.R.R. Tolkien Catalog 324 (Aug 2007) at RR Auction (accessed 22 October 2011)
