Thursday evening J.R.R. Tolkien: The Art of the Manuscript

A MAXIMUM OF FIFTY (50) TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE

Photography is not permitted in this exhibition

Please note the Haggerty Museum of Art will be closed on the following Thursday evenings to accommodate private events:

• Thursday, September 29
• Thursday, October 6
• Thursday, October 20 
• Thursday, October 27

Marquette University’s Raynor Memorial Libraries and the Haggerty Museum of Art are pleased to announce an exhibition of manuscripts from the celebrated author and artist J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973), best known for his literary classics The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The exhibition, J.R.R. Tolkien: The Art of the Manuscript, will be on view at the Haggerty Museum of Art August 19-December 23, 2022.

The exhibition considers Tolkien’s work through the lens of manuscripts, in terms of both the materials that he studied as a medieval philologist and the manuscripts that he created while developing his legendarium. Professor Tolkien was deeply immersed in the complexities of manuscripts, and this exhibition will illustrate how different aspects of the manuscript tradition found expression within Tolkien’s scholarly life and in his creative writing.

The foundation for this exhibition is Marquette University’s extensive collection of Tolkien manuscripts housed within the library’s Department of Special Collections and University Archives. It will also include items borrowed from other repositories, including a significant number of Tolkien manuscripts and artwork from the Bodleian Libraries at the University of Oxford.

The exhibition will include over 100 items, many that have not previously been exhibited or published. For more exhibition information, please click here.

SUPPORT THE HAGGERTY MUSEUM OF ART BY BECOMING A FRIENDS OF THE HAGGERTY MEMBER TODAY AND RECEIVE FREE ADMISSION TO TOLKIEN! For a complete list of membership benefits, please click .

Image credit: Marquette MS. Tolkien 3/4/12/1a. ©The Tolkien Estate Limited

J.R.R. Tolkien: The Art of the Manuscript is presented through generous support from Premier Sponsor Wintrust.

Additional support is provided by Travel Wisconsin and Contributing Sponsors The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, and Dr. Mary Anne Siderits.

Host or Publisher Haggerty Museum of Art