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Letter 285

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
← Letter 285 →
RecipientW.H. Auden
Date8 April 1966
Subject(s)Explaining the tartness of his 23 February letter

Letter 285 is a letter written by J.R.R. Tolkien and published in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien.

[edit] Summary

Tolkien confessed that the tartness of his 23 February letter (Letter 284) was caused by the New Yorker article about the meeting of the Tolkien Society in New York and Auden's remarks about him. He also was upset about Peter Salus' nonsense about the shape of Middle-earth. He enclosed a copy in case Auden had missed it.

These remarks were so fantastically wide of the mark that Tolkien would have to write long correspondence to sufficiently make corrections. Unfortunately the Press, with its slant towards sneering, had fastened on Auden's remarks about his house and pictures, which had exposed his wife and himself to ridicule.

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