William Ready

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William Bernard Ready (16 September 1914 - 12 September 1981) was a University Librarian and Professor of Bibliography at McMaster University in Ontario, taking up the position in 1966.

Born in Cardiff, Wales, Ready studied bibliography in England and Wales, and after the Second World War he became an acquisitions librarian at Stanford University. Between 1956 to 1963 he was Director of Libraries at Marquette University.

Ready foresaw the cultural value of Tolkien's writings and, while at Marquette University, he managed to purchase a large selection of original literary manuscripts by Tolkien in 1956-57, including manuscripts of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

According to his own account, Ready had arranged a lecture tour for Tolkien at American universities, but Tolkien was forced to decline because of illness. In order to make amends, Tolkien therefore offered Ready to buy his manuscripts. However, Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond have stated (deriving from archived correspondence) that Tolkien "was directly approached to sell his papers, and did not himself suggest their sale."