Real Life Adventures – The Tolkien Exhibit at the Morgan Museum by Michael Curtis A couple of days before Valentine’s Day, as snow and freezing rain spit down upon me, I found myself standing on a railroad station platform awaiting the arrival of the train that would whisk me away into the heart of New York City. Poor weather notwithstanding, I was on a quest, one that would take me more than 100 years into the past by our reckoning and by untold centuries by another. I was bound for the Morgan Museum & Library to view their new exhibit, “Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth.” This exhibit, which runs from January 25th to May 12, 2019, features a collection of items pertaining to J.R.R. Tolkien’s life and creations on loan from the Bodleian Libraries (Oxford), Marquette Universities Libraries (Milwaukee), the Morgan, and private lenders. This impressive collection is one of the largest public displays of Tolkien-related works and items in several generations, and is perhaps an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for those in North America to examine rare pieces of literary history. Museum policy prohibits photography so I was unable to document my visit to the Morgan. I’ll do my best to describe what is on display at the exhibit, which is a poor substitute for seeing it yourself. However, if you can’t make it, the opportunity to glimpse the exhibit’s complete catalog is available and you can find links at the end of this essay for how to do so. But, now, let’s take a virtual trip through the exhibit. The exhibit is extensive and well-planned. Visitors walk through a round hobbit-hole front door, the vista of the Shire as rendered by Tolkien, himself, in one of his watercolor paintings visible beyond the door. Once immersed in the world of Tolkien’s imagination, the visitor is gently lead through an examination of Tolkien’s life, beginning with his birth in South Africa and his eventual relocation to England following his father’s death. We’re granted a rare look at early childhood photos and letters, as well as documents pertaining to Tolkien’s life under the guardianship of Father Francis Morgan after his mother’s death, and remembrances of his meeting his future wife, Edith Bratt. Among these items representing Tolkien’s school days are several illustrations and paintings that hint at the much larger imaginary world (or...