TOLKIEN, John Ronald Reuel (1892-1973)

Los 93
12.07.2023 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Startpreis
£ 5 000
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
VeranstaltungsortVereinigtes Königreich, London
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ID 993388
Los 93 | TOLKIEN, John Ronald Reuel (1892-1973)
Schätzwert
£ 5 000 – 8 000
TOLKIEN, John Ronald Reuel (1892-1973)

Autograph letter signed ('JRR Tolkien') to Michael Bell, [Poole], 25 January 1969.

Two pages, 227 x 177mm (left-hand margin a little cockled). Envelope, postmarked 'Bournemouth-Poole'. Provenance: by descent from the recipient.



'The Sea of Galilee is rough': on his Catholic faith, the conversion of his friend C.S. Lewis, and ownership of invented Elvish names. Tolkien is delighted and surprised that his letter [lot **] found Michael Bell so quickly, in spite of the gap in years, 'or I should have missed one of the most comforting and charming letters I have received'. He returns his correspondent's poem - 'I seldom destroy anything (which now creates a great problem for me)' - but retains a copy of the 'charming and moving' verses written by Bell's wife. 'It give[s] me great pleasure to hear that you became a Catholic, though boarding the bark of Peter is not alas! nowadays a trip to a haven of peace. The Sea of Galilee is rough. I myself was as a small boy brought 'out of the Land of Egypt' by a young, beautiful, and gifted mother. She died in a few years, largely owing to the poverty and griefs that followed her conversion: the spirit of Ian Paisley was then almost normal. One must take comfort in the calming of the storm (Matthew 8); but it seems plain that the promise that the powers of darkness (Gates of Hell) shall not prevail is given only to that recognized and ordered institution (ecclesia) loyal to the See of Peter. Not, of course, that the free grace of God is withheld from any individual as such. A notable case was that of my dear friend C.S. Lewis, who arrived by degrees at a completely 'Catholic' position with regard to Our Lord [...] He was in fact Pope in his own individual Church, and I am sure God accepted him as that'. Turning to Bell's request to name his house after Tolkien's elven valley, he responds gladly: 'As for Rivendell of course you may use the name. I am pleased: though there is in fact no copyright in names (a defect in the law it may seem to we who take particular delight in inventing theirs)', adding that his grand-daughter has done likewise.



Tolkien remained a devout Catholic to the end of his life and was instrumental in the return of his Oxford colleague and close friend, C.S. Lewis, to the Christian fold. In a letter of 2 December 1953 to a Jesuit friend, he even went so far as to insist that although The Lord of the Rings contains no overt reference to Christianity at any point, and very little to religion, it nevertheless remains 'a fundamentally religious and Catholic work'.



[With:] a typed letter signed by an Allen and Unwin press officer to Michael Bell, 40 Museum Street, 23 January 1969, noting that there is 'no copyright in names and I am sure that Professor Tolkien will be delighted to know that you are naming your house "Rivendell"', adding that Tolkien hopes he will be forgiven for not replying personally. One page.

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