Message Board member ‘And Back Again’ pointed us to the following story at Times Online:
A rare first edition of The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien is expected to raise £30,000 at auction. The last photograph of Tolkien is also being auctioned at Bonhams, London, on March 18. It was taken in 1973 by his grandson Michael in the Botanic Garden, Oxford, and shows him standing beside his favourite tree. A note on the back written by Priscilla, his daughter, says: “For Elaine with love from Priscilla.” The book is also dedicated to Elaine Griffiths, the friend who urged him to have The Hobbit published. Other lots include illustrations by Tolkien and a copy of Farmer Giles of Ham.
Read the full story at Times Online. [Read More]
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A rare first edition signed copy of JRR Tolkien’s classic novel The Hobbit estimated to be worth about $A65,000 will go under the hammer in London next month. Considered by some collectors to be the ultimate prize for Tolkien fans, the book was published in 1937 and features a range of black and white sketches by the world-famous author. Also up for grabs will be a copy of the first foreign language edition of The Hobbit, translated into Swedish in 1947, and the last known photograph ever taken of Tolkien. Auction house Bonhams estimates the much-sought after book could attract bids of between STG20,000 ($A43,802) and STG30,000 ($A65,703) from collectors around the world. Tolkien signed the book for his friend Elaine Griffiths, who had a hand in the author’s publishing success. Auction of The Hobbit first edition
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Katrelya writes: Tom Shippey will be speaking on Thursday, February 7, at Azusa Pacific University at the conference “C.S. Lewis, the Inklings, and the Call to Christian Community.” His keynote address will be “The two Images, Discarded and Rejected?” I have forwarded you the message from Edie Dougherty from the Southern California C.S. Lewis Society. I hope many of us can take advantage of this great opportunity to hear Tom! [Azusa Pacific University]
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A great piece of Tolkien history was posted on YouTube recently that you just can’t pass up. The Tolkien Library has published J.R.R. Tolkien’s 1971 Interview with Dennis Gerrolt of the BBC on YouTube, as well as the complete transcript at their website. Besides the wonderful content of the interview, there may be many in our audience who have never heard the professor’s voice before!
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The Lord of the Rings has remained popular since the 1960s, and became a hugely successful film trilogy. Tolkien’s themes of fellowship, sacrifice and the importance of the natural world are traceable to his experiences in the First World War, as well as to a love of folklore and of myth. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in South Africa and educated at King Edward 1V School, Birmingham, and Oxford. His mother, who inspired a love of fairytales and Roman Catholicism, died when he was 12. The Times Names 50 greatest postwar writers: Tolkien Comes in 6th
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Mark Stewart writes: I’m writing about the University of Washington’s Tolkien lecture series that starts in a couple weeks. It was mentioned previously on theonering, but the full site with registration for all five evenings is now available. We’re trying to get the word out to Tolkien fans in the Seattle area. The speaker, Professor Robin Stacey, is a Tolkien scholar and wonderful lecturer. Details about each night of the series are available here. Other cool news is that we’ll probably be offering a podcast/streaming audio versions of the talks at some point after the series is over. Details will go up on the site.
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