The Hobbit
$23,888 · Offered by Biblio
Signed
London: Penguin [Puffin] Books,, 1961. Signed for a noted fan First paperback edition, signed by the author on the half-title in blue ink. This copy came from the descendants of Eileen Elgar, a dedicated fan with whom Tolkien corresponded generously from around 1961 to 1970. They often saw each other during Tolkien's holiday retreats to Hotel Mirimar, close to Elgar's home in Bournemouth. It was Elgar who famously prompted Tolkien's detailed explanation for why Frodo succumbed to the One Ring at the climax of The Lord of the Rings. In a lengthy letter of September 1963, Tolkien wrote to Elgar, "Very few (indeed so far as letters go only you and one other) have observed or commented on Frodo's 'failure'. It is a very important point..." (Letters, p. 460). As Elgar was deaf, they communicated with writing pads during their meetings in person. On one such occasion in March 1965, Tolkien loaned her the typescript of Smith of Wootton Major (1967), which Elgar returned along with her feedback. Tolkien called her "highly intelligent & well-read" in his letter to Michael Tolkien of 16 October 1963 (Letters, p. 472). Tolkien reluctantly allowed a paperback edition, fearing it would "cheapen the old Hobbit" and preferring Bilbo to "amble along" in hardcover, as he had done since 1937. As a middle-ground, Tolkien stipulated that Pauline Baynes illustrate the softcovers, that no greater than 35,000 copies be printed, and that the book includes advertisements for the hardcover editions of
- Year: 1961
- Binding: paperback
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