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16 Nov, 2009
2009-11-16 5:06:36 PM UTC
Hello collector .Welcome to the forum.
I am sorry but you have missed the point here. We know Tolkien went on holiday to Milford and doctor was Higgins at one stage in life but why would he write letters, not post them and then leave in the loft so his cleaner/ friends could gather just before house was demolished, along with signed books? Or was the signed Hobbit recently sold by said seller a 'sleeper' book- i just cant remeber his story changed that much!
How are you so sure they are original ? You sound very informative ? Have you done deep study on it?
16 Nov, 2009
2009-11-16 6:13:57 PM UTC
To my knowledge, Wayne and Christina remain the best authorities on Tolkien and his life. As they observe, "We too have significant doubts about the 'Higgins' letters. We've seen no evidence of Higgins, as Tolkien's doctor, friend, or otherwise, outside of the letters offered on eBay."

Collector, if you have further evidence that could prove otherwise, I'd be more than interested in what you might have to say.
16 Nov, 2009
2009-11-16 8:24:59 PM UTC
16 Nov, 2009
2009-11-16 9:57:18 PM UTC
Can't say I've seen a Tolkien signature with what looks like an 'X' type mark where the 'k' should be. I think it's a fake.
16 Nov, 2009
2009-11-16 9:58:47 PM UTC
Quote -

"and of course Tolkien did come from this area."

Say no more!
16 Nov, 2009
2009-11-16 10:03:58 PM UTC
Collector wrote:

"long, if you are skeptical about these "Higgins" you have not too much idea about Tolkiens life. These letters are original. Dr. Higgings was his family doctor and they gone several times on holidays to Milford."

I know a bit about Tolkien's life; Wayne and Christina know far more. Neither they nor I have heard of Dr. Higgins except for the ebay letters. Could you tell us where your information comes from?
17 Nov, 2009
2009-11-17 5:48:35 AM UTC
Collector wrote:

"long, if you are skeptical about these "Higgins" you have not too much idea about Tolkiens life. These letters are original. Dr. Higgings was his family doctor and they gone several times on holidays to Milford."

Apart from the fact that the evidence for "Dr Higgings" (sic) as Tolkien's family doctor is very thin. Was he a GP, what was his practice, where did he live (it is convenient that these eBay letters do not have any envelopes)?

And the problem that Wayne and Christina have mentioned that the letter-headed paper has the wrong letter-head and none are dated. Why would Tolkien type one line of text and then hand sign it? Surely he would hand write the whole text and sign it (much harder to fake though).

I can see no provenance for these letters so have to believe that they, like a lot of 'signed' Tolkien material, are fakes.
17 Nov, 2009
2009-11-17 8:59:24 AM UTC
Laura, are you skeptical about these letters only because you suposse one friend are not writting letters to another friend? In order to know if a hand sign letter is a fake or not you must do a very deep study, you need a handwriting expert survey. I dont know about Ebay, I never check there, but are you doubting about Allington Antiquarian Books??.
17 Nov, 2009
2009-11-17 9:10:33 AM UTC
Garm, Dr. Higgings was the family doctor of Tolkiens family, and a personal friend. If you never heard about him....

Say no more...
17 Nov, 2009
2009-11-17 9:25:08 AM UTC
Trotter, I dont know about ebay, I never was there. But it is very dificult to fake a book or a letter from 1968, I never bought a letter/book looking a simple picture, I need to study them.

I have a "sleeping book" (sic Laura) from Tolkien, 1ed. Blue ink. and it is very real, all you need is to do a study from a handwriting expert survey.

Thanks to everybody, this a very interesting chat.
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