TOLKIEN (J.R.R.) Autograph letter signed twice ('J.R.R. Tolkien' and with initials 'J.R.R.T') to Mr Wood ('Dear Mr Wood'), enclosing three signed cards [not present], sending his publisher's addresses as he moved from Oxford two years ago ('...into 'retirement': not from writing but from publicity...'), extensive postscript on verso discussing the dust-jacket of the India paper edition of volume 3, describing its simplified design ('...The erupting mountain & the long arm of Sauron 'terrible but impotent', in the top background, could not be accommodated to stamping... the silver inscription, between the wings and the throne containing the words of Elendil... was too delicate...'), ending with clarifying a point regarding the iteration of Elendil's name ('...without vowel-signs L-ND-L...'), 2 pages, dust-staining, creased, small tear lower edge, 8vo (169 x 129mm.), London, [n.d. but late summer/autumn 1970] Footnotes: 'THE ERUPTING MOUNTAIN & THE LONG ARM OF SAURON 'TERRIBLE BUT IMPOTENT'': TOLKIEN ADAPTS HIS DUST-JACKET DESIGN FOR THE NEW EDITION OF THE RETURN OF THE KING. In early 1954, Tolkien perfected the final drawings for the first hardback edition of The Lord of the Rings. The third volume, The Return of the King, included elements associated with Aragorn and his Numenorean heritage. Due to the cost, however, the publisher Allen & Unwin eventually settled for a single design, with variations, for all three volumes. For the India paper edition, published in 1969, Tolkien here explains that certain elements such as the quote from Elendil, the first High King of Gondor and Arnor, had to be simplified to accommodate the stamping process. Our letter is noted in Christina Scull and Wayne G Hammond, The Tolkien Companion and Guide; I Chronology, 2006, p.750 and published on Tolkien Gateway online but not in Humphrey Carpenter (ed.), The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, 1981. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing