Officer's service record: J R R Tolkien

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pa ... rldwar/people/tolkien.htm

That's cheered up me

I thought it might be interesting to swap tales on the more unusual items in our collections.

When I was in Oxford for Oxonmoot, I popped into Blackwells. Just as I was leaving, I picked up their "rare books" catalogue, and started leafing through it. My eye lit on this entry:

"Sir Stanley Unwin: The Celeration of his 80th Birthday and Golden Wedding Day; with allusions to 50 years of George Allen & Unwin Ltd under his direction; 40 years on the Executive of The International Publishers Association; and 30 years on The British Council."

I cajoled the assistant into hunting through the shelves with me, until we found it. It proved to be a beautiful little book - number 26 of only 50 published - with a signed note from Sir Stanley!

There is no mention of Tolkien in it, but I consider i a worthy addition to my collection of Tolkienalia.

If I may be permitted a small plug - my super-deluxe CoH is finishing on Bay tomorrow - seller ID is wellinghall.

I have bought two copies, and put one of them up on ebay. I don't know whether it will sell at the moment - if not, I'll put it in a cupboard for a while, then re-list.

I'm not trying to make a great deal money on this - indeed, my opening price will barely cover ebay and paypal costs.

If anyone here - particularly anyone from outside the British Isles - would like to bid, you would be more than welcome