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Taking Tolkien on the road
It’s book one of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Gandalf, Frodo and the fellowship have nearly completed their dark passage of Moria. Theydiscover Balin’s tomb, find his battle-scarred final testament, then do nothing, for the next six months—J.R.R. Tolkien has writer’s block.
“At this point,” says Matt Blessing, who as university archivist oversees Marquette’s J.R.R. Tolkien Collection, “Tolkien would get out his sketchbook and colored pencils and try to draw his way out of the problem.”
The result is a collection of handwritten manuscripts illuminated—with detailed sketches, maps and fine calligraphy in the margins—and illuminating of “the painstaking planning and blood, sweat and tears Tolkien put into making sure all the pieces of the puzzle fit together,” Blessing says.
Tolkien’s literary and visual artistry will be on display for the first time off campus when an exhibition of 40 of the most visually interesting items from Marquette’s collection is mounted at Fordham University’s Gerald M. Queen Library at Lincoln Center. Titled “The Beginnings of a Masterpiece,” the display runs through Nov. 19 and coincides with a screening of the movie The Fellowship of the Ring at Radio City Music Hall, which is accompanied by a live orchestra.
Transporting the Priceless Archive
The transportation of these rare archival materials from Marquette to New York was plotted almost as intricately as a Tolkien novel. Purchased in 1957 for less than $5,000, they’re now irreplaceably priceless. Blessing says they’ll be handled like works of art but for security reasons prefers to keep the details of their journey to himself. —JS
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