Bodleian Library to Display Tolkien’s Original “Father Christmas” Letters

Many people are now aware that Tolkien wrote letters from Father Christmas to his children, especially since the collection was published in 2012 and is readily available to buy. However, in 2018 as part of an exhibition into the author’s life, the original letters and many other artefacts will be on display for the first time.

Tolkien: Maker of Middle-Earth runs from 1st June to 28th October 2018 at the Bodleian Library, Oxford. This major exhibition will explore the writer’s creative genius, his inspirations, and his work as an artist, poet, medievalist, and scholar of languages.

The exhibition will be packed full of feature events, including draft manuscripts of The Hobbit, original manuscripts and original dust jacket art by Tolkien, Photos and letters from the author’s childhood and student days, personal items from Tolkien’s library and of course the original copies of the Letters to Father Christmas that captivated his children while growing up.

The letters have been a particular interest to Tolkien fans because they show another, more personal side to the author. Spanning 23 years, every Christmas Eve Tolkien would sit in his study and write a letter to his children, with detailed illustrations, from Father Christmas. The far fetched and captivating tales tell of Father Christmas’ life in the North Pole, they start simply and as his children age, become more detailed, a little darker, and more thrilling. In 1936 he writes in a collection of goblins who live in caves under the North Pole and steal presents, eventually Red Elves join the battle, enlisting by Father Christmas to ward off the goblins.

Letters from Father Christmas US
Letters from Father Christmas UK

Tolkien was a professor at Oxford for 35-years and after his death left most of his collection to the Bodleian. Over the years many collections from the library have been shown, but this looks to be one of the most intimate to date.

If you can’t make it to the exhibition, then you can still read Tolkien’s Letters from Father Christmas as they were published as a collection by HarperCollins in 2012. If you can make it to the exhibition, we’re incredibly jealous and you can find all the details here.