J.R.R.Tolkien Manuscript Exhibit at
Fordham University's Lincoln Center Campus

October 5 – November 19, 2009

Literary manuscripts from Marquette University’s renowned J.R.R. Tolkien Collection will be exhibited this fall at Fordham’s Gerald M. Quinn Library at Lincoln Center.

“The Beginnings of a Masterpiece:  Original Manuscripts from The Fellowship of the Ring” will coincide with an assortment of Middle-earth programming in Midtown, including an orchestral performance of the musical score composed for the motion picture The Fellowship of the Ring at Radio City Music Hall on October 9-10.

The exhibit marks the first time that the literary manuscripts have been exhibited in New York City.  Forty select items will be on display, including drawings and sketches, calendars of Middle-earth, linguistic notes about the author’s invented languages, Hobbit family genealogies, detailed time schemes and other plot notes, and examples of Tolkien's finest calligraphy.

Marquette University Libraries preserves the manuscripts and working drafts for three of J.R.R. Tolkien’s most celebrated books, The Hobbit (1937), Farmer Giles of Ham (1949), and The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955), as well as the original copy of the illustrated children's book, Mr. Bliss.  The acquisition of the manuscripts was the brainchild of then Marquette library director William B. Ready (1914-1981).  Ready recognized The Lord of the Rings as a work of genius and negotiated to purchase the Oxford professor’s papers.  Major additions to the J.R.R. Tolkien Collection were acquired in the 1990s and will be featured in the exhibit.

"The Beginnings of a Masterpiece" is free and open to the public on October 9-11, with small group tours at the top of the each hour between 9:00 a.m and 2:00 p.m.  Group size will be limited to 10 individuals.  Please register here.

Starting October 12, the exhibit will be open to visitors between 10 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., Monday-Saturday, and from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sundays.  All visitors will be asked to show a valid photo ID to enter the Lowenstein Building and the Quinn Library.  The Lowenstein Building is located at 113 West 60th Street.

Marquette University Libraries' Tolkien Archives Fund, established in 1987 by the late Richard E. Blackwelder and expanded by numerous enthusiasts, is sponsoring the manuscript exhibition.