Forum Auctions - July 16

Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, first impression, frontispiece, one plate and 8 illustrations, including 7 full-page, map endpapers printed in red & black, all by the author, short nick to pp.191-193 head, occasional marginal spotting, more so at endpapers, faint finger-soiling to one or two pp., cracking to gutter, overall holding firm, original cloth, slight spotting and toning to spine, some staining to lower board, light bumping and fraying to spine ends, margins slightly darkened, edges foxed, [Hammond A3a], 8vo, 1937.

Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Lord of the Rings, 3 vol., comprising The Fellowship of the Ring, light toning strips to endpapers, one or two minor marginal spots, spine ends fractionally rubbed, 1954; The Two Towers, p.352 slightly creased, cloth joints lightly marked, ink ownership signature and notes to dust-jacket lower panel, 1954; The Return of the King, state with signature mark "4" and aligned text on p.49, dust-jacket without review after The Return of the King on lower flap, light surface-soiling on rear pastedown, a few light marks to covers, some minor nicking to dust-jacket upper panel foot, short tear at spine foot lower joint, 1955, first editions, first impressions, maps at end, original cloth, dust-jackets, spines browned and stained, creasing and chipping to spine ends, a few light spots to front and rear panels, overall very good copies, [Hammond & Anderson A5], 8vo.

Tolkien (J.R.R.).- Best (David) The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and other poems from The Lord of the Rings translated into runes, 4 vol. notebooks bound in 1, manuscript in pencil and ink, 2 Autograph Letters signed from Tolkien thanking Best for sending the translations and praises his work "It seems very correct. I am glad you used the genuine English runes (as in The Hobbit)", May 1967 (folds), Autograph Note signed in a secretarial hand "With best wishes from Professor Tolkien", Autograph Letter signed by Best to Tolkien with Tolkien's translation of a line from the back cover of The Road Goes Ever On in pencil, loosely inserted, maps and illustrations copied from Tolkien's works (some loosely inserted), tape repairs, light soiling and rubbing, original card wrappers bound in, modern cloth-backed boards, manuscript label laid down on upper board, custom pictorial slip-case replicating The Road Goes Ever On cover, [c.1967]; and very good copies of Tolkien's The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, with David Best's ownership signature in English and Elvish, and The Road Goes Ever On, v.s. (small bundle)

***A unique and personal archive of notebooks, illustrations and correspondence relating to J. R. R. Tolkien compiled by David Best, a dedicated fan, in school exercise books as a teenager in the late 1960s.

After reading Tolkien's works, Best became captivated by the tales of fantasy and adventure, in particular with the runes in which the secret message was written on Thorin Oakenshield’s map. He then mastered the elven systems as well as Runes and there are various writings in the notebooks including transcriptions of Tolkien's English poems into runic script, as well as maps at varying scales and illustrations copied by hand. Best sent off these notebooks to Tolkien who wrote back thanking him for his efforts and supplied corrections. Featured on the BBC's The Repair Shop in 2022, the collection was subsequently restored and rebound by Chris Shaw in a bespoke binding and slipcase.

A letter of provenance available upon request.