Lot 86 email save

The Lord of the Rings signed by J.R.R. Tolkien

Sign In to see what this sold for

86. Three volume presentation First editions of The Lord of the Rings with Elvish inscription and all three volumes signed by J.R.R. Tolkien. The three volume presentation set, comprising of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King, London, George Allen and Unwin, 1954-55, are all bound in original red cloth with titles gilt on spine and original dust jackets. Each volume has the fold out map at the back. All are first editions, first printings. In volume one Tolkien has penned, "Elainen tarin Periandion ar meldenya anyaran" ["To Elaine, Queen of Hobbits and my very old friend"] and he has signed all three books. This incredible set belonged to Elaine Griffiths (1909-1996), a student of Tolkien and later a Fellow of St. Anne's College, Oxford, lecturing on philology. She was instrumental in encouraging Tolkien to show the manuscript of The Hobbit to publisher's Allen & Unwin. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is arguably one of the greatest works of literature in the 20th century, containing amazing detail of a new mythology-invented world, never really surpassed. It is a true rarity to find the trilogy all signed by Tolkien—even more so with his inscription in Elvish. A fine set in near fine dust jackets. Housed in a quarter-morocco solander box. $80,000 - $120,000

Note: Special thanks to Carl F. Hostetter, editor of Vinyar Tengwar & head of the Elvish Linguistic Fellowship (www.elvish.org), who provided the translation to Tolkien's Elvish inscription in this lot. Mr. Hostetter presented an analysis of this inscription in the journal Vinyar Tengwar, issue 49 (June 2007).

View Profiles in History next auction.

Similar lots up for auction