MILWAUKEE — I’m very excited about this story today. On Wednesday, I got to visit the archive that holds the original versions of one of the most popular book series of all time. The Lord of the Rings.
Marquette University has the original drafts for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, along with two lesser-known books by him, Mr. Bliss and Farmer Giles of Ham. There are more than 11,000 pages of drafts.
I own 10 Lord of the Rings books. I even played 'Concerning Hobbits' on the ocarina for my friend's wedding recessional. Lord of the Rings is a cultural phenomenon that has touched my life and millions of others. And Marquette University is one of only two places in the world with such a collection of Tolkien drafts.
“So scholars who want to consult and look and study more closely the way that Tolkien wrote these classics can come here," Bill Fliss, the Manuscript Archivist at Marquette University, said.
The original manuscripts show the evolution of the elvish language, characters, plots, and famous moments in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. A few dozen researchers come by every year to study the texts to gain a better understanding of Tolkien and his work. The only other place like it is at the University of Oxford, where Tolkien taught.
Watch the story to see the archives...
“I do like just the variety of drafts and variety of kinds of handwriting as he was doing his work," Fliss said.
As the school's archivist, he oversees the Tolkien collection along with many others at the university.
“I was a Tolkien fan before I came to Marquette, going back to my childhood, but I had no intention when I came to Marquette to work with the Tolkien papers," he said.
For reference, Fliss said that his favorite book at 14 was The Silmarillion.
Along with maintaining the manuscript collection, he is also in charge of a cache of memorabilia like a 1970s jigsaw puzzle, fan magazines from the 1960s, VHS tapes, DVDs, and board games. There's also a large collection of books of the various versions of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. They have dozens of editions in different languages. Right next to those books are secondary pieces of literature about Tolkien and his work. However, the goal is not to be a museum. It's just to have a well-rounded collection so scholars can see the progression of the story, books, fandom, and more.
Almost all of this is behind a locked door. It's not readily available to the public, especially the manuscripts. The school and Tolkien estate carefully guard those.
“We own the physical manuscripts. We purchased them from Professor Tolkien in 1957, but we do not own the copyright to them," Fliss said.
The school’s librarian, William Ready, purchased the collection for $5,000 in the 1950s. He bought the physical documents but not the intellectual property.
Researchers can’t take photos or bring home copies. They have to be viewed in person. In fact, they can’t even see the original documents.
Instead, Bill and his team came up with the Anduin System, named after a major river in Middle-earth. It’s a digital archive that allows researchers to view scanned copies of the manuscripts.
“By scanning the manuscripts and then providing them in a system that allows for easy navigation of the collection, it’s really improved the research experience," Fliss said.
Beyond the manuscripts, Fliss is also working on an oral history project. He is recording Lord of the Rings fans' answers to how they were introduced to the books, why they love Tolkien, and what it means to them. Of course, I wanted to be part of it. I was interviewee number 1,366.
He wants 6,000 interviews, which is the number of Riders of Rohan mustered by King Théoden to aid Gondor in the Battle of Pelennor Fields.
You don’t need to know what that sentence means to understand the impact The Lord of the Rings has had on global pop culture. And that’s why it’s so significant that the original drafts are in Marquette’s archives.
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