Hi Beren,

Are you sure it was a 1st/1st Fellowship? Cannot find the auction in the completed listings. Cannot imagine a 1st/1st Fellowship selling for anywhere close to £100 (or close to £500 for that matter).

I saw a Worn (and poorly advertised) 1st/1st ROTK go for just over £100 alright.

Ebay seems to be a little quieter in general and prices have come down somewhat. But as always, the quality and rare editions still seem to sell very well.

Well, bargains i wouldn't call it really, most books are in poor shape...

By the way what do you think of this item: signed letter ??
Doesn't look like Tolkiens Hammond typewriter, doesn't look like Tolkiens autograph either. Any ideas?

looks fake to me. the thing that would worry me is T: the 3 dots inside , also the top stoke on the T looks wrong

If Beren can not (or will not) declare this a forgery, what is a mere mortal to think of it? The typewriter would not seem to matter. It would seem that JRRT (if this is genuine) was responding to correspondence typed up by a secretary at Allen&Unwin and made ready for his signature. But I have not ever seen that "T" (not that I have seen very many of his signatures) - Beren has many genuine ones in his collection, what thinkest thou?) and the color of the ink would make me think twice. What the TCG needs is a handwriting expert on staff. Jeremy, when you're not too busy, could you dig one up?

In my humble opinion, here's my thoughts on this auction.

- The seller has a pretty good reputation.
- The letter is quite likely real (hard to tell, not being able to see the paper itself to tell if it is 35 years old).
- As Parmastahir mentions, this was likely typed up by a secretary, especially given the late date (Tolkien wasn't up to doing all of these sorts of short notes himself in later years.)
- It is quite possible that the signature was done by a secretary as well (ghost signature) as the intended recipient would only care that the thought came from JRRT, not a collectible signature.
- All handwriting experts who happen by please sign up to be a resident expert.