Leslie Hindman auctioneers are having a live (and online) auction on October 8th, 2020 in Chicago, where four Tolkien related items are up for bidding. Included is a manuscript (handwritten) two page letter to George Sayer, and a first edition copy of The Road Goes Ever On that includes a signature card and George Sayer's invitation to Donald Swann's London performance both tipped in.

Auction 759 - Selections from the Library of Gerald and Barbara Weiner
October 8, 2020 / 10:00am CT
Chicago


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Lot 219 - TOLKIEN, John Ronald Reuel (1892-1973). The Hobbit or There and Back Again. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1938. 2nd impression.
8vo. 4 colored plates and 9 illustrations by the author. Publisher’s original tan cloth, title stamped in blue with bowing Hobbit device stamped in red on upper cover, pictorial map endpapers (some wear to spine ends, some minor staining, lacking dust jacket). FIRST AMERICAN EDITION, second impression, with the publisher’s device on the title-page. Hammond and Anderson A3b.

Estimate $1,000 - $1,500
Sold for $2,500 inclusive of Buyer’s Premium



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Lot 220 - TOLKIEN, John Ronald Reuel (1892-1973). [The Lord of the Rings trilogy:] The Fellowship of the Ring. 1954. -- The Two Towers. 1954. -- The Return of the King. 1955. All London: Allen & Unwin Ltd.
Together, 3 volumes, 8vo. Folding map tipped-in each volume. Original red cloth (slightly leaned); pictorial dust jackets (closed tear crossing front panel and portion of spine and 1 ½-in. separation to upper joint of The Fellowship, some minor losses to spine ends, some minor soiling or creasing, a few short tears) ; half morocco folding case. Provenance: George Sayer (1914-2005), teacher at Malvern College, biographer of C. S. Lewis (signature in vol. I, see below).

Estimate - $20,000 - $30,000
Sold for $38,400 inclusive of Buyer’s Premium



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Lot 221 - TOLKIEN, John Ronald Reuel (1892-1973). The Road Goes Ever On, a Song Cycle. London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd., 1968.
4to. Title printed in red and black, marginal decoration in Tengwar by Tolkien printed in gray and black. Original boards lettered in red; original printed dust jacket. Provenance: George Sayer (1914-2005), teacher at Malvern College, biographer of C. S. Lewis (invitation to a reception tipped in).

FIRST EDITION. SIGNED CALLING CARD BY TOLKIEN mounted to front free endpaper (slightly smudged). George Sayer’s copy, with an invitation tipped in to a 14 March [1968] reception “to hear the first London performance of Donald Swann’s musical settings of poems by Professor Tolkien, sung by William Elvin with the composer at the piano. The Song Cycle, The Road Goes Ever On, with embellishments and commentary by J. R. R. Tolkien will be published in book form on 28th March.”

Estimate - $1,500 - $2,500
Sold for $1,920 inclusive of Buyer’s Premium



Lot 222 - TOLKIEN, John Ronald Reuel (1892-1973). Autograph letter signed (“JRRT”). To George Sayer, Oxford, 7 August 1952. 2 pages, 8vo, on 99 Holywell, Oxford stationery, creased; morocco folding case.

This letter is summarized in Scull & Hammond's JRR Tolkien Companion and Guide - Chronology (2017), pp. 408-409

Estimate - $4,000 - $6,000
Sold for $35,840 inclusive of Buyer’s Premium