The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien is a selection of J. R. R. Tolkien's letters published in 1981, edited by Tolkien's biographer Humphrey Carpenter assisted by Christopher Tolkien. The selection contains 354 letters, dating between October 1914, when Tolkien was an undergraduate at Oxford, and 29 August 1973, four days before his death. The letters can be roughly divided in four categories: The last category is especially of interest to Tolkien fans, as it provides a lot of information about Middle-earth which cannot be found anywhere in the works published by Tolkien
J. R. Black on a singing career, touring Australia, India, China, and finally Japan. Performances in Hong Kong and Shanghai in 1864 received enthusiastic reviews in the local press, as did his performances in Yokohama in June and July of the same year. Though he had no intention of staying in Japan, he was to remain there for another eleven or more years. In 1864, Albert Hansard, owner of the "Japan Herald" (among the first English-language newspapers in Japan), offered J. R. Black a job in his auction business, and in 1865 offered him a partnership in the newspaper. In 1867, the partnership