'Rare' Tolkien books up for auction

Three books containing J.R.R. Tolkien's signature, linked to a family who holidayed with the author, are expected to fetch thousands at auction.

The volumes - The Two Towers, The Return of the King, and The Hobbit - each contain a Tolkien signature which has been cut out and pasted in, and came from the estate of the late Brenda Jocelyn Walden.

Mark Skipper, director of Quire Auctions, said the three books represent a rare opportunity for collectors.

The collection will be auctioned later at Quire Auctions in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, and have a combined estimate of £17,000 to £23,000.

Walden's parents, Kathleen and Henry George Walden, were friends with Tolkien and his wife, Edith, and the families holidayed together in Bournemouth.

The signature in The Two Towers, estimated at £6,000 to £8,000, is believed to have been removed from a longer letter sent by Tolkien to Kathleen, who referred to the author simply as JRR.

A second signature, carrying the same estimate, was found in The Return of the King and was written on the reverse of a postcard of the Hotel Miramar.

The hotel in Bournemouth was Edith Tolkien's favourite, and is where the families stayed together.

The third signature, discovered pasted into The Hobbit, has a slightly lower estimate of £5,000 to £7,000 and had been coloured in by Kathleen and Henry's daughter.

Skipper said he was "very excited to see the final result".

"Tolkien is fiercely collected, and we've seen demand grow and grow in recent years," he said.

"To have not one, but three works with his signature is really quite remarkable, and complete with the provenance of the Walden and Tolkien families holidaying together, paints an exceptional picture of the history of these books."

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