5 Feb, 2010
(edited)Edited by Trotter on 2023-4-30 8:39:31 AM UTC
Edited by Trotter on 2024-12-6 4:54:37 PM UTC
2010-2-5 1:55:09 PM UTC
Letter link:
Letter from Tolkien's Secretary to Ingeborg Korff • 31 December 1964 (#570)I was totally flabbergasted when I went through the estate of my aunt and found an old envelop stamped in Oxford 31st, December 1964. Enclosed was a letter from J.R.R.Tolkien to the pupils of my aunt. My aunt was a primary schoolteacher and must have had contact with Tolkien. The letter is printed on Tolkien stationary and is signed.
It says:
Dear Children,
Thank you very much indeed for writing to me to say that you have enjoyed reading my books. It is always pleasant for an author to learn that his work has given pleasure.
I was particularly interested to know that you have not only read "The Hobbit" and " The Lord of the Rings" in your own language, but that they are helping you to learn English as well. And Miss Korff tells me that you have painted water-colours of many scenes from these stories.
I hope that the books will continue to give you pleasure, and I wish you all much success in your studies.
Yours sincerely
J.R.R.Tolkien
Does any body of you know what such a letter is worth and how to connect to a collector?
5 Feb, 2010
2010-2-5 2:21:49 PM UTC
We have recently had lots of 'fake' Tolkien letters appear and it is very nice to see an example of a genuine signed letter with its original envelope.
You have various ways to sell the letter if that is what you would like to do, one way would be to get someone to sell it on your behalf and a forum member would be a good choice for that, Pieter Collier (
Beren) and his web site is
http://www.tolkienlibrary.com./contacts.htm. If you look at Beren's site you will see he is selling some letters which would give you a guide to price. (
http://www.tolkienlibrary.com./dmiller/rare-Tolkien_letters.htm)Another option would be to sell the letter through eBay.
5 Feb, 2010
2010-2-5 2:46:02 PM UTC
that you have not only read "The Hobbit" and " The Lord of the Rings" in your own language
I'm not sure if I understand this correctly. Does "in your own language" mean that the children have read German translations (the letter is addressed to a school in Germany) of The Hobbit and LotR? The first German translation of LotR was published in 1969/70 but this letter dates back to 1964. That's five years before the German translation was published.
But maybe I don't get the point
5 Feb, 2010
2010-2-5 3:34:54 PM UTC
Hi Max
This looks a good example of a genuine letter to me too. After so many recent fakes its good to see what appears ot be the 'real thing'
As Trotter advises there are numerous ways to sell, one factor might be how fast you want a buyer /need monies etc. No doubt you may even get some interest from forum members here!
Good luck what ever you decide
5 Feb, 2010
2010-2-5 6:11:30 PM UTC
André wrote:
that you have not only read "The Hobbit" and " The Lord of the Rings" in your own language
I'm not sure if I understand this correctly. Does "in your own language" mean that the children have read German translations (the letter is addressed to a school in Germany) of The Hobbit and LotR? The first German translation of LotR was published in 1969/70 but this letter dates back to 1964. That's five years before the German translation was published.
But maybe I don't get the point
First of all thanks a lot for the quick replies!
Well that is interesting. He possibly meant only the Hobbit (first published in Germany 1957) - Hm...
Or my aunt did her own translation ? Or he misunderstood?
Unfortunately I do not know the original letter from her. Maybe some collector has her letter, that would certainly help.
Well the date is clear on the letter and the envelop.
5 Feb, 2010
2010-2-5 6:26:56 PM UTC
I have to agree with Max's comments here.
The teacher could have translated the text herself as she read to the children or just translated words that the children did not understand in English.
5 Feb, 2010
2010-2-5 10:20:34 PM UTC
Since I am totally new in this area, could anyone tell me how often you find a new letter from Tolkien in this forum?
6 Feb, 2010
2010-2-6 12:50:06 PM UTC
Max wrote
Since I am totally new in this area, could anyone tell me how often you find a new letter from Tolkien in this forum?
At the moment we tend to see more fake letters than real ones, but Tolkien was a prolific letter writer so they must be a lot of letters from him ready to be found like you did.
6 Feb, 2010
2010-2-6 8:25:54 PM UTC
I'd agree with Trotter and others - very nice to see what to all appearances is a real letter! Letters such as this show up for sale every few months or so, but most of those are well known (up for sale more than once as they change hands multiple times).
There is not much scholarly value to your particular letter, but it is very charming!
6 Feb, 2010
2010-2-6 11:09:33 PM UTC
This is a typical secretary letter of which I have seen over 200 by now... typed by Tolkien's secretary and also signed by this person. Clear match in autograph as well.