When he posted them originally I emailed him and suggested he split them up as it was too big a lot to expect a bid. He told me he really wanted to "de-clutter" his Tolkien collection, so I expect we might see some more items soon.

Like others here I have a good selection of lucky finds in my collection, but recently I have been surprised at the benefits to be found in keeping a keen eye on the Amazon (UK) marketplace.

Last week I received a 1956 Hobbit (no DW) from a marketplace bookshop for £30 and thought I had done well. However, today a received a copy of the Report on the Excavation of Lydney Park, with Tolkien’s essay The Name ‘Nodens’, bought for £10 only! The marketplace seller was a small museum library shop in Wiltshire who presumably were selling off some unwanted stock.

I'm sure I'm not the only one to ask him that very question (still waiting for a reply)!

I also have two copies. In one, the impression of the signature is very clear when looked at from the other side of the page. The other is quite different. Only the upper branch of the 'K' and the underline appear as a raised area on the other side of the page. There is no other difference between the two volumes that I can discern, although the copy with a weak signature impression is somewhat more used. There is a little foxing and the dustwrapper is missing.

The other Tolkien books with facsimile impressions that I have checked (all the Tree and Leaf versions) do not show this impression, but of course they are not printed on this glossy high quality paper.

Thanks for the responses - I think I'll have to mark this one as inconclusive.