Signed Hobbit
15 Dec, 2025
2025-12-15 7:53:49 PM UTC
2025-12-15 7:53:49 PM UTC
Hello ,
I wonder if anyone could help me? My father some years ago in the late '90s bought some very early copies of the lord of the rings along with a signed copy of The Hobbit. My father passed away some years ago now and so it's story of provenance is only told through my what my mum can remember! He bought it from a man in Bournemouth whose mother worked at a hotel where Tolkien and his wife were eating. She had it signed by Tolkien after serving him a meal, much to the annoyance of the hotel manager! That is all my mum can remember. What's are your thoughts?
Kind regards
I wonder if anyone could help me? My father some years ago in the late '90s bought some very early copies of the lord of the rings along with a signed copy of The Hobbit. My father passed away some years ago now and so it's story of provenance is only told through my what my mum can remember! He bought it from a man in Bournemouth whose mother worked at a hotel where Tolkien and his wife were eating. She had it signed by Tolkien after serving him a meal, much to the annoyance of the hotel manager! That is all my mum can remember. What's are your thoughts?
Kind regards
OP you are a terrible person.. Also a liar.
This is a book I was selling on FB marketplace. Openly stating I didn't know if it was genuine and that it had no provenance whatsoever. I put it up at £500 to see if there was any interest and gauge a true price with a hopeful quick sale before christmas! Unfortuntely 2 interested people linked me to this post and accused me of being a scammer..
Here's the real story! My cousin and I helped a mutual friend clear out his loft. It's been full up of junk for years and he wants to convert it. During clear out we found this book, (amongst many others), and due to my interest in LOTR I had a look. Imagine my surprise to see it was actually signed!! With my friends blessing, we put this up for sale hoping for a bit of cash to split. We all know that if it was genuine, it would be worth a considerable sum however with no history other than: "my mates dad worked at the 3 Cups in Lyme which was where Tolkein once stayed, though probably not at the time he was there"; it wasn't likely to be worth anywhere near that much. So up for £500 it goes and offers roll in from £40 to £400! Then a couple people start linking to this post so I have to prove it's actually mine and this is a genuine sale, (I've attached a photo with my name and todays date for proof). I'm irritated by this since, though I have NO issue with someone buying to sell on, at least be honest about it and don't spin a yarn about your dead father to try get interest!!
As it happens, through the help of a really nice guy on FB, I have managed to 99pct confirm this isn't a genuine signature from someone who would actually know. I'm going to keep it as a reminder that life generally serves me Lemons, not book shaped gold bars!
This is a book I was selling on FB marketplace. Openly stating I didn't know if it was genuine and that it had no provenance whatsoever. I put it up at £500 to see if there was any interest and gauge a true price with a hopeful quick sale before christmas! Unfortuntely 2 interested people linked me to this post and accused me of being a scammer..
Here's the real story! My cousin and I helped a mutual friend clear out his loft. It's been full up of junk for years and he wants to convert it. During clear out we found this book, (amongst many others), and due to my interest in LOTR I had a look. Imagine my surprise to see it was actually signed!! With my friends blessing, we put this up for sale hoping for a bit of cash to split. We all know that if it was genuine, it would be worth a considerable sum however with no history other than: "my mates dad worked at the 3 Cups in Lyme which was where Tolkein once stayed, though probably not at the time he was there"; it wasn't likely to be worth anywhere near that much. So up for £500 it goes and offers roll in from £40 to £400! Then a couple people start linking to this post so I have to prove it's actually mine and this is a genuine sale, (I've attached a photo with my name and todays date for proof). I'm irritated by this since, though I have NO issue with someone buying to sell on, at least be honest about it and don't spin a yarn about your dead father to try get interest!!
As it happens, through the help of a really nice guy on FB, I have managed to 99pct confirm this isn't a genuine signature from someone who would actually know. I'm going to keep it as a reminder that life generally serves me Lemons, not book shaped gold bars!
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