Nineteenth Century and Modern First Editions, Presentation Copies, Autograph Letters and Literary Manuscripts

Notes
This catalogue includes several Tolkien-related lots:

Lot 537 (p.109) – A four page letter to G.E. Selby dated 14 December 1937. The lot description includes extracts from the letter discussing various aspects of The Hobbit: its nomenclature, how it came to be published, reactions to its publication and another story submitted to Allen & Unwin. The letter is reproduced in full in The Hobbit Drawings, Watercolors and Manuscripts (1987).

Lot 538 (p.109) – A postcard to G.E. Selby dated 19 September 1944. The lot description includes extracts mentioning that Priscilla is typing The Lord of the Rings out for him, which he thinks "A & Unwin will take if ever they can find enough paper!”

Lot 539 (p.110) – A postcard to G.E. Selby dated 7 July 1946. The lot description includes extracts discussing an erroneous report of his retirement and a recent holiday with Edith. Identical extracts were printed in Autograph Letters and different extracts were printed in Printed Books, Manuscripts and Music (1986).

Lot 540 (p.110) – A six page letter to G.E. Selby undated but probably c.1955/6. The lot description includes extracts from the letter discussing allegory in The Lord of the Rings and its publication as a ‘trilogy’. Different extracts were published in Fine Books and Manuscripts (1984).

The letters are not included in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (1981).