On the death of C.S. Lewis and Lord of the Rings - photo 1
On the death of C.S. Lewis and Lord of the Rings - photo 2

On the death of C.S. Lewis and Lord of the Rings

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Auction dateClassic
06.10.2022 12:00UTC -04:00
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CHRISTIE'S
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ID 813702
Lot 149 | On the death of C.S. Lewis and Lord of the Rings
On the death of C.S. Lewis and Lord of the Rings

J.R.R. Tolkien, 1964

TOLKIEN, John Ronald Reuel (1892-1973). Autograph letter signed (“Ronald Tolkien”) to [Przemyslaw] Mroczkowski, Oxford, 20-26 January 1964.



Four pages, 228 x 178mm on his blind-embossed stationery (light foxing at corners, and minor separation at fold to second leaf).



"A dreadful year of loss and frustration" — On the deaths of C.S. Lewis (and JFK) and lengthy discussion of The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien responds to a sympathetic letter from his correspondent to pour out a tale of the "dreadful" year of 1963: "The low reached for me its climax on Nov. 22nd, not for me the day Kennedy was murdered, but the day C.S. Lewis died." Then, Tolkien and his wife were so ill as not to be able to celebrate Christmas: "I did not even manage to put up even a sprig of holly this year"; the next disaster was in their son Christopher's divorce: "A shadow, only guessed by us, has been falling on my son Christopher and his wife … soon after Christmas disaster came on them and us. His wife walked out ... I fear they have left their allegiance to our Mother [the Church]." The letter continues with a detailed discussion of The Lord of the Rings, considering Mroczkowski's suggestion as to "the simultaneity of different planes of reality touching one another ... part of the deeply felt idea that I had ... Beyond that too I feel that no construction of the human mind, whether in imagination or the highest philosophy, can contain within its own 'englobement' all that there is ... There is always something left over that demands a different or longer construction to 'explain' it ... This is like a 'play,' in which ... there are noises that do not belong, chinks in the scenery," discussing in particular the status of Tom Bombadil in this respect. He offers his admiration to Mroczkowski's ability, in spite of his illness, "to plod through a voluminous 'Preface to Chaucer'! I know that my sloth is the chief reason for my reluctance to reach such books, but apart from that I do become more and more skeptical of their value. … Alas! I remain a very unlearned man—which does not matter much now, but which made me feel something of a fraud when I occupied a 'chair' (by accident rather than merit)." Tolkien concludes with apologies if he seems too earnest and makes references to his wife's ill health. J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis became fast friends after they first Oxford in 1926—bonding over their shared experiences serving in the First World War as well as their shared passion for stories, poetry, and language. Tolkien would remark that Lewis was for many years “my only audience,” and he owed the creator of Narnia “an unpayable debt,” not for “influence but sheer encouragement.” (Tolkien to Plotz, 12 September 1965, published in Letters, 362). Tolkien and Mroczkowski had begun corresponding in 1946 but did not meet in person before the Polish-born professor arrived in Oxford in 1957, where he spent a year doing post-doctoral research. Their shared passion for medieval literature and culture nurtured a friendship and continued correspondence following Mroczkowski’s return to Poland the following year. For a fuller discussion of their friendship and correspondence, see Lukasz Neubauer, “The ‘Polish Inkling’: Professor Przemyslaw Mroczkowski as J.R.R. Tolkein’s Friend and Scholar,” Mytholore 39:1 (Fall, 2020), pp. 149-176. Provenance: Christie’s, 1 June 2009, lot 76.

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