Edited by Trotter on 2021-11-20 6:33:39 AM UTC Edited by Trotter on 2021-11-30 3:01:48 PM UTC
2021-11-20 6:10:05 AM UTC
Lot 3551
30th November 2021 Toovey's Auction House
TOLKIEN, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1954-1955. 3 vols. First editions, all volumes signed by Tolkien on the front-free endpapers, 8vo (221 x 137mm.) 3 folding maps to rear. (Browning to endpapers of volume 2, light spotting to endpapers of volumes 1 and 3, toning, the map in 'The Return of the King' replaced with one from a later edition.) Original red cloth (some sunning and staining to spines, lightly bumped spine ends). Note: 'The Fellowship of the Ring' and 'The Two Towers' are second impressions, 'The Return of the King' is a first impression. It has the '4' signature on p.49 and the slipped text. The second impression of 'The Fellowship of the Ring' has always been notably (2 or 3mm) smaller than other impressions. A possible reason is that the printer, Jarrold & Son, did not keep the type standing from the first impression and so when the publisher, Allen & Unwin, asked for another impression the printer had to quickly re-set the type, which led to many new inaccuracies in the text, as well as a slightly different sized binding. [Hammond, 97.].
Ok I get that and no problem but for consistency and not to be picky we gave this Ancrene Wisse, signed by Tolkien, Oxford, 1962 a B grade with no provenance ? Maybe this should be a C as well then
I think a grading system for provenance on the face of it is a good thing but ultimately the word derives from 'proven'. Anything other than proven is a claim only.
Edit: Missed the point before I posted. Surely this is a grade 'C'?
B Grade and C Grade both do not have provenance, the difference is that B Grade has additional trust factors (association, trusted vendor, nothing questionable about the signature, and that C grade might have some questionable characteristics (but isn't required to, the signature on a C grade might look fine and could well be authentic) TolkienGuide Grading descriptions
The Convent Ancrene Wisse has a very weak association (in my personal opinion) only in that the bookplate could have been added at any time before or after the signature was made to the book. I might grade that C myself.
I agree with Khamûl that Trotter's use of "provenance" for the bookplate was incorrect (should be association).
Based on the images provided, surely these are authentic JRR signatures are they not? They look pretty authentic to my untrained eye.
Not having any questionable characteristics doesn't guarantee that a signature is authentic. These do look ok to my eye as well, but they still deserve the C grades. Lots of valid, authentic signatures will get B and C grades, and potentially some forgeries will too.
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