Rare artworks by JRR Tolkien which have never been displayed before are included in a major new exhibition on the Lord of the Rings author’s life.

“Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth” at the Bodleian Libraries’ Weston Library in Oxford brings together an array of items from the UK, the US and France.

Many of them have not been in the city since Tolkien’s death in 1973.

The library said it is a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to see so many Tolkien-related materials together.

Three unseen Tolkien artworks and numerous personal effects are on show.

There are also numerous manuscripts, maps and letters from the Bodleian Library’s Tolkien archive, the Tolkien collection from Marquette University in Wisconsin and several private collections.
“This is the first time that any of this material is coming back to the UK and it is so exciting to have it coming back to Oxford where Tolkien wrote the material and drew the artwork,” said Catherine McIlwaine, the Bodleian’s Tolkien Archivist who has curated the exhibition.

“This material is unknown to Tolkien fans so it’s going to be marvellous.”

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