Tolkien Notes 17
The Fall of Gondolin
We received today (in Massachusetts) our copies of the HarperCollins trade and deluxe editions of The Fall of Gondolin. Both are first printings. We ordered them in good time before publication on 30 August, and Amazon UK posted them that day. Their packaging, however, was weak relative to the weight of the two books (in one parcel), and from a Royal Mail note on the wrapping, appears to have come apart even before it began to cross the Atlantic. Royal Mail taped the package shut, which probably delayed onward shipping, and it arrived in our box in a plastic bag courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service. Fortunately, neither volume was damaged.
‘From Words to Pictures’
Catherine McIlwaine, Tolkien Curator at the Bodleian Libraries and curator of the Oxford exhibition ‘Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth’, has published an article, ‘From Words to Pictures’, in the Summer 2018 number (no. 56) of Illustration magazine. McIlwaine summarizes Tolkien’s creative endeavours, focusing on selected works of art he produced for ‘The Silmarillion’, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings. The watercolour painting Bilbo Comes to the Huts of the Raft-elves for The Hobbit is featured on the cover. Illustration is a fine quarterly publication (by Cello Press), each issue of which has articles on classic and contemporary illustration art.
‘Tolkien and the Visual Image’
We have been invited to give an illustrated public lecture on ‘Tolkien and the Visual Image’ at the Morgan Library and Museum, in connection with ‘Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth’ when it travels to New York from the Bodleian. We will be speaking in the evening on 31 January 2019, shortly after the exhibition opens on 25 January. Further details and ticket ordering will be available later this year through the Morgan Library website.
Too Many Books and Never Enough 
Thank you for your comments on places, eg Leek, that, often for commercial reasons, promote false claims regarding Tolkien’s association with that place.So it is with trepidition that I respectfully draw your attention to my article presented at Oxonmoot 2018 about Tolkien’s supposed association with Buckland in Breconshire. The impetus for my research is annoyance with the undertakings in Wales that promote such inaccuracies, ‘Visit Wales’ being a serial offender. Maybe you might like to view a de-referenced version of my article. This is available at http://www.talybont.com . Mark Hooker and Nancy Bunting both commented favourably on its content. Please note that though I feel the evidence is compelling, a jury presented with it would have to come to the Scottish verdict ‘Not Proven’. Nevertheless I consider it to be truthful progress. Respectfully yours Seamus Hamill-Keays
Thank you, Seamus, that’s very interesting. No doubt you’re right about the likely verdict. When we get a moment to think this through more carefully, we may comment about it in our blog proper.
Very much obliged for your comments.