The Radcliffe Camera, Oxford, England, for Tolkien Reading Day

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It's Tolkien Reading Day

For Tolkien Reading Day, we're featuring Oxford University's Radcliffe Camera, the reading room for the Bodleian Library, which is home to the world's largest archive of J.R.R. Tolkien's original manuscripts and drawings. While Tolkien never worked in the Radcliffe Camera (Latin for 'room'), he both studied at Oxford (graduating in 1915 with first-class honors in English language) and taught here as a professor.

During his years at Oxford, Tolkien wrote 'The Hobbit' and its sequel, 'The Lord of the Rings,' along with other books and research. In 2003, the Tolkien Society organized the first Tolkien Reading Day to celebrate and promote the works of Tolkien. They selected March 25 since it was the day that the Dark Lord Sauron was defeated and the Black Tower destroyed in 'The Lord of the Rings.'