It looks lovely to me. Signed on all three title pages? Wow! Pity I can't afford it. I'd like to know its story - that is, who it was signed for, and how it comes to be for sale. garm

From this article it looks like it was Pauline Baynes personal copy of the book and some of the other items in the sale were also from Pauline Baynes collection.

http://www.paulfrasercollectibles.com ... n.asp?catid=73&docid=3633

http://www.bloomsburyauctions.com/detail/725/450.0

Sold for £5500.

A copy of the Houghton Mifflin Hobbit, described as with Tolkien's signature in the bottom margin of the frontispiece plate, is to be offered by PBA Galleries of San Francisco on August 5th. The online catalogue page is here. The date is said to be '[1960]', but as the list of works includes The Adventures of Tom Bombadil it can't be earlier than 1963. The dust-jacket is labeled the fourteenth impression, which also points to 1963. The web images enlarge only so far, but enough to see that the 'J.R.R. Tolkien' signature is in blue ink and has certain questionable characteristics of script. The house estimate is $5,000-8,000.

Wayne & Christina

A copy of the Houghton Mifflin Hobbit, described as with Tolkien's signature in the bottom margin of the frontispiece plate, is to be offered by PBA Galleries of San Francisco on August 5th. The online catalogue page is here. The date is said to be '[1960]', but as the list of works includes The Adventures of Tom Bombadil it can't be earlier than 1963. The dust-jacket is labeled the fourteenth impression, which also points to 1963. The web images enlarge only so far, but enough to see that the 'J.R.R. Tolkien' signature is in blue ink and has certain questionable characteristics of script. The house estimate is $5,000-8,000. Wayne & Christina

It certainly is questionable especially when you see who it was bought from on eBay.

For sale is a first US edition of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. This copy dates to the 1950 and is the 14th printing. It has its original dust jack which apart from some minor chips is in pretty good shale. There is an ownership inscription on the inside flyleaf but other than that is devoid of internal markings. The picture at the beginning of the book is signed 'J.R.R. Tolkien' with fountain pen. This page appears to have been inserted and was perhaps sent to Tolkien to be signed. There is no provenance with this item and as I am not a dealer there is no certificate of authenticity issued. I am starting this item at a low reserve and will allow the bidding to dictate the value of the book. Postage within Canada by insured mail is $20.00 Shipping by insured trackable airmail $25.00 to the US.. Other destinations will be charged postage at cost. Payment due within 3 days of sale. Payment by Paypal only. All sales final. No returns.

Please see my other items listed for sale including a 1932 limited first edition of Brave New World signed by Aldous Huxley and other signed items.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200480907435

EDIT: PBA Galleries have withdrawn the item from the current auction.

In July 2010 (see the previous post in this thread), we reported on a copy of The Hobbit about to be offered at auction by PBA Galleries, San Francisco, the American edition, 14th impression (according to the jacket), with the colour frontispiece signed by Tolkien. We noted that the signature was questionable, and Trotter observed both that the copy had been offered earlier by a questionable source on eBay, and that it had been withdrawn from the PBA sale. Well, it's back, once again at PBA Galleries, in their sale of March 15th, lot 201, now with a house estimate of $4,000-6,000. The auction listing is here.

Wayne & Christina

That is really unfortunate--they know they have a questionable item, yet they go ahead and sell it.

Jlong wrote:
That is really unfortunate--they know they have a questionable item, yet they go ahead and sell it.

It isn't just unfortunate, it seems more like it is just plain dishonest. At a minimum, one would think that there should be some kind of note as the the questionable provenance of the item.

Does not look to be an Alan Formhal's signature but not real.

"J R R Tolkien-"The Two Towers-Being The Second Part Of The Lord Of The Rings"-1965-Houghton Mifflin-5 1/2" X 8 1/2"-352 pages-Hardcover Book-With Map-Signed BY Author.English writer J.R.R. Tolkien is a towering figure in fantasy literature. He wrote the novel The Hobbit (1937) and the classic trilogy The Lord of the Rings (published 1954-56): highly imaginative tales of elves, dwarves, and wizards in a land known as Middle Earth. The hobbits Bilbo and Frodo Baggins and the wizard Gandalf figured prominently in these stories and became Tolkien's best-known characters. Tolkien was an expert linguist and a longtime professor of language and literature at Oxford University. He was also part of C.S. Lewis's informal group of scholars and writers known as "The Inklings." The book has been autographed on the title page by J R R Tolkien with a fountain pen in blue/black ink.................BOTH BOOK AND AUTOGRAPH ARE IN VERY GOOD CONDITION."

http://www.guaranteeautograph.com/tojrrttwoto1.html

It is a copy of what Beren describes as

"The autograph which started it all... it was the first fake signature that appeared on a website claiming to be a true signature. This one has been seen many, many times reproduced (especially on cut cards)"

http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/fascimilesignatures.htm

Terrible !

Here is one due to be auctioned at Tim Davidson auctions next month. I saw the photo and pointed out the error of their ways and they have duly withdrawn the lot.
Well done