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Lot 297
TOLKIEN (J.R.R.)
Sold for £540 (US$ 810) inc. premium

Lot Details
TOLKIEN (J.R.R.)
Autograph letter signed ("J.R.R. Tolkien"), to Messrs Maples & Co of Bournemouth, accepting their several estimates for furniture on moving into his new house, which has been delayed because of his illness ("...I hope by the end of the week to be able to attend to things again. Above all to complete the clearance of the library floor to enable it to be clean and covered. Until that is done, necessary movement of furniture cannot be carried out, and I shall not be able to house the Teignmouth divan (cited in Estimate 2. But the work required for this and for the old chair (Estimate 3) can proceed, if it isnt already taken in hand..."), and enclosing a cheque for £50, 2 pages, 8vo, some creasing and minor soiling through handling, 19 Lakeside Road, Poole, 25 September 1968

Footnotes

  • This charming example of bagendery was written after Tolkien and his increasingly frail wife had decided to move from Oxford - partly to escape besieging fans - to a modern bungalow in the suburbs of Bournemouth. He had injured himself while preparing to move that July. By 2 January he was able to write to his son Christopher that "My library is now in order".
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