An LA Times piece on the Tolkien collection at Marquette (LRR)

For here, inside Marquette University, rests the world’s preeminent collection of J.R.R. Tolkien’s best-known literary works.

The original text for “The Hobbit,” his first published book, is here. So is the manuscript of “The Lord of the Rings.” There are hand-drawn maps. Rejected epilogues. Abandoned chapters. Elvish songs. Mounds of paper scraps. More than 11,500 items written by his hand.

Acquired at a time when fantasy was considered trash by many academics and literary critics, Marquette’s collection of the Oxford professor’s writings, poetry and drawings now is considered priceless.