Sherlock Holmes Letter | 10th January 1947, 7 ½ pages, original signed Tolkien letter in which we discover what Tolkien thought of Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle.
What did J.R.R. Tolkien think of Sherlock Holmes? Well, for the very first time, we now know!
Typed, signed letter dated 2nd October 1947 to AW Riddle on grammar and languages and with two incredibly interesting mentions of Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle, 7 ½ pages.
The letter describes Sherlock Holmes and Mycroft as having ‘quite a sniff of priggery about these two precious gents’ and Conan Doyle as 'not himself distinguished as a particularly acute thinker'. Earlier in the letter Tolkien states 'a matter in which Sherlock Holmes attempted to put over a manifest piece of fraud' – clearly Tolkien didn’t think much of Holmes’ deductive reasoning and seemingly didn’t think much of Conan Doyle’s intelligence!
The inclusion of Sherlock Holmes to further illustrate Tolkien’s points in this letter and to strengthen his arguments is rare but to then to rather rip into the failure of Holmes' way of going about it is fascinating and I cannot stress enough how rare this is.
It is utterly mad to have Holmes mentioned so many times in a letter by Tolkien. It completely blows my mind. When sold at auction in 2002 (it has been in private hands since then) the cataloguers didn't seem to notice that Tolkien talks about Holmes or Conan Doyle. It changes a letter on language, grammar and verbs (interesting but not mind-blowing for the collector) into something completely different. As I was cataloguing the letter and reading through the densest of text on verbs(!), I suddenly saw Sherlock Holmes! A next level letter and currently the only letter to mention Sherlock Holmes to exist. A major author referencing another major author and his creations is a serious, serious item and very revelatory.
Alongside Holme, this long letter delves deeply into Tolkien's ideas on grammar and languages, specifically discussing split infinitives and the evolution of written and spoken language.
Despite his modesty about defining proper English usage, Tolkien is interested in its pursuit and argues that there is no such thing as "correctness". He even suggests that any grammatical changes can be accepted if enough people agree or if it becomes fashionable. Interestingly, Tolkien refers to himself as a "linguistic historian with a scientific outlook", and a specialist in Anglo-Saxon and Medieval English, as well as a poet. Holmes is also mentioned to strengthen his arguments, and Tolkien criticizes the detective's approach.
Description and condition:
Original Tolkien letter dated 10th January 1947 to AW Riddle, ½ pages, 4to, typed, hand signed by Tolkien at the end and with pencil annotations throughout in the authors hand. Each page has two folds in line with being posted in an envelope. Small ink stain affecting a minute part of the tops of pages 3 & 4 (see pics). In excellent condition.
I cannot stress enough the one-of-a-kind importance of this letter.
