Tolkien Letter Original Authentic Lord of the Rings Fellowship Ring Hobbit COA

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Tolkien Letter Original Authentic Lord of the Rings Fellowship Ring Hobbit COA:
$5000.00

J.R.R. Tolkien Letter: References the Writing of The Fellowship of the RingOffered here is a letter written by Professor J.R.R. Tolkien on the back of an envelope which contained a query from Dr. Howard McCord, a creative writing professor at Washington State University. It\'s a true once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own a piece of Tolkien and LOTR\'s history. Professor Tolkien\'s note is in direct reference to the writing of The Fellowship of the Ring. This exceedingly rare bit of Tolkien\'s life was part of a buyout of a local university collectible store\'s inventory. The deceased owner had been a huge Tolkien fan and we acquired quite a trove of Tolkien\'s works and collectibles, many rare and fascinating pieces that represent the author and his works. His widow said he bought this piece on one of his many, many buying trips across the country over many years
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This find is special indeed. Rarely is anyone offered a chance to own a letter written in Tolkien\'s own hand. It is a rare gem, truly a crown jewel, for the serious Tolkien collector.
We showed it to the local curator at our university\'s main museum for his valuation of it, and he could hardly contain his glee in seeing it. He said, \"Amazing and fascinating piece. Infinitely preferable to a true collector than any collectible statue. So, whatever the market will bear.\" ....and then he proceeded to offer us a very, very good tax write off if we would donate it to the university\'s collection for display. It\'s purchase price in 2005 was $750, but, obviously, the fascination in Tolkien, his works and memorabilia, has only continued to skyrocket, and anything in Tolkien\'s own hand is exceedingly scarce indeed on the market....and this piece has a fascinating provenance: That Tolkien actually took the time to reply a second time (and translate his earlier note) when he came across McCord\'s returned letter and request, long after the initial request from McCord. The \'translation\' in red ink of what Tolkien had written himself the first time in pencil is a delightful note on the acuity of the aging and iconic Oxford Professor\'s commitment to his works.
Still, the university\'s offer was almost an offer we couldn\'t refuse! Pieces were kept in a fine folder with COA and a small souvenir reprint of Tolkien\'s signature.
The envelope with Tolkien\'s original pencil, and later, red ink replies, and McCord\'s original letter were, each, placed between two pieces of archival acid-free paper and placed inside interior folders. We handled the pieces with library gloves and placed them back as we found them.
(A typed provenance will be included with the pieces.)Dr. McCord\'s letter was sent to Professor Tolkien on December 11th 1963 along with a book of McCord\'s poems and a note of praise of The Fellowship of the Ring..... and, certainly much to his delight and surprise, was eventually returned to him with Tolkien\'s reply written in pencil on the back of Dr. McCord\'s envelope. Dr. McCord couldn\'t decipher exactly what Tolkien had written. As time passed, it seems, although he must have treasured the reply, he just had to know what Professor Tolkien had written. So he sent the envelope back to Tolkien and begged him to decipher it. Tolkien must have been quite amused (and perhaps a bit annoyed) but he did indeed eventually reply (remember this was a transatlantic correspondence in the days of \'snail mail\' with Professor Tolkien in London and McCord in Washington state.) with a \"translation\" of his hastily penciled first reply. Tolkien obviously came across McCord\'s returned letter a substantial time later and decided to take the time to answer. And this time he wrote in red ink....and a bit more carefully. Dr. McCord wrote: (Typed on university stationary)
WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY
Pullman Washington
Department of English
11 December 1963
Dear Professor Tolkien: I have been caught up in many hours of delight by your lovely creation, The Fellowship of the Ring. I know of no other story of such sustained imaginative power. There is a small handful of works which exhibit such a joy in invention--yours and Charles Williams--and his own eschatological novels share with your fictional works the same actuality of depth that too often goes unrecognized. I hope you had such pleasure in the writing as I have had in the reading. Please accept the book of poems as a mark of gratitude I feel for the pleasure in your work.
Sincerely,
Howard McCordTolkien Replied in pencil and McCord couldn\'t read what Tolkien had written. Eventually, with some hope and a need to know what Tolkien had written, he returned the envelope to Professor Tolkien and asked that he \'decipher\' it. Far from being very annoyed by the request and ignoring or discarding the request, Tolkien did indeed \'translate\' what he had earlier written and took the time to return the envelope once again to McCord, and Tolkien even added a bit when he finally did reply:
(*Tolkien even corrected Dr. McCord\'s misspelling of his name on the envelope and the letter\'s greeting. The \"i\" and \"e\" were reversed, not an unusual mistake even today. ):
\"Thanks. Your question has never been asked and was nearer in my heart than any praise. Yes, I did. The pleasure and the toil (I typed it myself.) I have enjoyed your poems very much. (*Tolkien added at the top right of the envelope in red ink: \"I think the last sentence must have been a kindly/polite lie. At any rate they now make me feel sick.) *Perhaps he was a bit annoyed after all!
(*To the left, in red ink, Tolkien added: \"deciphered July 30, 1972.\" This was only a year before Tolkien\'s death at age 81 *We noticed Tolkien put an arrow symbol over the word \"question\" in his red-ink reply and jotted a additonal note enclosed in [brackets]; and we can\'t make that out. If you can make it out, please send us a note! We would be grateful. :) Update: A very astute observer helped and the note is: \"[re. line 9-10 of letter?] or [sc. line 9-10 of letter?]
(and he added: The arrow coming from \"Your question\" would seem to indicate that although Howard McCord did not frame it as a question this is what J.R.R. Tolkien was answering.)
_____ Thank you, raidersafc
The word(s) preceding Tolkien\'s amended remark about McCord\'s poetry (\"...they now make me feel sick.\"), however, still eludes us.
We\'ve added a close up of that piece. Any thoughts? :)
Update: The words before \"...they now make us sick.\" are At any rate...
(Many thanks - j_beregond )
Tolkien\'s reply and the later deciphered dated reply are written in his own hand (no signature). Tolkien also corrected McCord\'s spelling of his name \"Tolkein\" to \"Tolkien\".
*The souvenir piece of paper on the lower right in the folder with Tolkien\'s signature and the note: \"If you would like a signature with \'The Lord of the Rings\' you can stick this on with my good wishes. JRR Tolkien\" is a reprint, a facsimile, and was in the complete folder with the original pieces and so we just left it in. align=\"center\">John Ronald Reuel Tolkien: 3 January 1892– 2 September 1973) was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the modern classic works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.

He served as the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Angle-Saxon and Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford, from 1925 to 1945 and Merton Professor of English Language and Literature and Fellow of Merton College, Oxford from 1945 to 1959. He was at one time a close friend of C. S. Lewis—they were both members of the informal literary discussion group known as the Inklings. Tolkien was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II on 28 March 1972.

In 2008, The Times ranked him sixth on a list of \"The 50 greatest British writers since 1945\"! His worldwide fame, never diminished, has only grown with the release of Peter Jackson\'s epic and thrilling film adaptations of \"The Lord of the Rings\" and \"The Hobbit.\"

Howard McCord was born in El Paso, Texas, in 1932. He served in the Navy during the Korean War, received his BA from University of Texas in 1957, and his MA from the University of Utah in 1958. He taught at Washington State University from 1960 to 1971, and at Bowling Green State University from 1971 to 2000. He was director of the Creative Writing Program there for many years. At various times he has been a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Alaska Southeast, California State University at Northridge, and Navaho College. The author of three dozen books and chapbooks, he has given readings from his works at more than two hundred universities. The COA is from the prestigous Gallery of History, a long standing UACC registered dealer and member of the Manuscript Society. The COA is signed by Todd M. Axelrod, President and respected authority in the fields of manuscript analysis and handwriting. The Gallery of History is one of the largest authentication sources and dealers in rare books in the world, with an inventory that exceeds 200,000 autographs and manuscripts. The Gallery of History, Inc. is recognized by every major insurance agency and carrier worldwide.