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Lot 207
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J.R.R. Tolkien reflects on C.S. Lewis, and assists a peer with his choice of
J.R.R. Tolkien reflects on C.S. Lewis, and assists a peer with his choice of
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Tolkien John 1892 - 1973 J.R.R. Tolkien reflects on C.S. Lewis, and assists a peer with his choice of University

Two page TLS, 8" x 10" , boldly signed twice by J.R.R. Tolkien as "J.R.R. Tolkien" along the bottom of page one, and using his initials "JRRT" on page two. Dated "2 August, 1946" Typed on blind stamped, 20 Northmoor Road, Oxford letterhead. Soft expected folds, else near fine.


An lengthy TLS from Tolkien to Przemys_aw Mroczkowski who had studied romance languages at the Faculty of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University in 1938, and who was looking to futher his studies at the time. Professor Mroczkowski described his first encounter with Tolkien in an interview with Tomasz Fia_kowski in the pages of Tygodnik Powszechny (No. 14, 1994): "It was at the British Council in Oxford, I do not remember all the topics of conversation, but I remember that I presented myself to Tolkien in the following way: 'I come from Mordor...'. He didn't object to that comparison, although today I understand that he did not refer the recent historical events when he conceived the kingdom".

Besides Tolkien, Professor Mroczkowski also met some other people from the group around Tolkien: C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, Neville Coghill and others. He described The Inklings with these words: "The Inklings were a group of really unique people, ... They were people thinking in the same way and there were clashes between them and discussions, and thus formed a vibrant community" (ibid.). As an informal literary discussion group associated with the University of Oxford, England, the society existed for nearly two decades between the early 1930s and late 1949, with most all the members holding strong beliefs in theology and Christianity. There were no rules, officers, agendas, or formal elections. As was typical for university literary groups in their time and place, the Inklings were all male. Readings and discussions of the members' unfinished works were the principal purposes of meetings. Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings, Lewis's Out of the Silent Planet, and Williams's All Hallows' Eve were among the novels first read to the Inklings.

Tolkien's letter additionally references his close friend, peer and colleague. C.S. Lewis, "I heard from Mr. C.S. Lewis that he was going to see you, but I have not heard more ... I fear, confess that I have done nothing further for you beyond speaking to Lewis on your behalf", and again on the second page of the letter " There is nothing, of course that prevents a scholar as yourself, a member of another university, from staying here and studying, and meeting other persons, such as myself or Mr. Lewis, or Mr. Dawson ....". Tolkien met Lewis young professors at Oxford, becoming close friends with similar interests in literature, myth, and language. Tolkien's letter to Mroczkowski was written after his publication of The Hobbit, and after Lewis's publications of The Space Trilogy books, Out Of The Silent Planet (1938), Perelandra (1943), and That Hideous Strength (1945). ( In fact it is believed that Lewis patterned his main character, Ransom, after J.R.R. Tolkien.) Professionally, Lewis and Tolkien studied and taught the literatures of medieval romance and, in Tolkien's case, the background of Norse myth. And they realized that it was only quite recently that such stories had become marginalized as "children's stories." Through much of history these were tales told and enjoyed by grown-ups. Even strong warriors enjoyed them, rejoicing in their triumphant moments, weeping at tragic turns of events. These stories told them important things about life_„îabout who they were and what the world was like, and about the realm of the divine.

Lewis's space trilogy came out of this same impulse to write the sort of stories that he and Tolkien liked to read. He felt he could say things in science fiction that he couldn't say in other ways. And Tolkien had been expressing this sense already for years when the two men met_„îever since World War One he had been writing hundreds of pages of a cycle of myth and legend from the early ages of Middle-earth. This, it would later turn out, would provide the "pre-history" for The Lord of the Rings, some of which was published after his death in The Silmarillion.

Tolkien was assisting Mroczkowski in his choice for the best school for his studies, with ultimately Mroczkowskim following through on Tolkien's recommendation and spent the 1946-1947 academic year as a Research Fellow at the University of Notre Dame in the United States, where he worked toward his doctorate in English literature (he acquired his master's degree in English Studies in 1946)

A lovely scarce twice signed typed letter by Tolkien written in-between his creation of The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings.

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