Sothebys auction December 16th - rebound first editions, one signed
11 Dec, 2020
(edited)
2020-12-11 5:18:22 PM UTC
2020-12-11 5:18:22 PM UTC
Sotheby's is having an online auction on December 16th, 2020 from their New York office, titled 'Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including Selections from the Collection of Barbara and Ira Lipman'. It has two lots that are Tolkien related, both of which already have multiple bids with reserve met (if any).
8vo (187 x 130 mm). Frontispiece, 8 plates and one vignette by Tolkien, advertisement leaf at end; . Full green morocco by Bayntun-Riviere, upper cover with gilt motif of Smaug the dragon in lower right corner, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, original cartographic endpapers bound in.
Estimate: $5,000 - 7,000 (USD)
Final bid: $16,380
The Fellowship of the Ring. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1954 — The Two Towers. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1955 — The Return of the King. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1955. All 8vo (135 x 219 mm). Half-titles, The Fellowship of the Ring signed by Tolkien, folding maps printed in red and black tipped in at end; minor toning, one or two stray spots. Modern full green crushed morocco, covers with gilt rules, spines with raised bands in six compartments, second and third with gilt-lettered brown morocco labels, others with repeat gilt rules and cornerpieces, topstained burgundy, marbled endpapers; minor scuffs or indentations to upper cover of The Two Towers, some spotting to fore-edges. First editions, first printings, signed by Tolkien on the general half-title of The Fellowship of the Ring.
[Update - the signature has been called into question]
Estimate: $5,000 - 7,000 (USD)
Final bid: $40,320
Lot 263 - Tolkien, J.R.R. - The Hobbit, or There and Back Again. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., [1937]
8vo (187 x 130 mm). Frontispiece, 8 plates and one vignette by Tolkien, advertisement leaf at end; . Full green morocco by Bayntun-Riviere, upper cover with gilt motif of Smaug the dragon in lower right corner, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, original cartographic endpapers bound in.
Estimate: $5,000 - 7,000 (USD)
Final bid: $16,380
Lot 264 - Tolkien, J.R.R. - The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, uniformly and handsomely bound
The Fellowship of the Ring. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1954 — The Two Towers. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1955 — The Return of the King. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1955. All 8vo (135 x 219 mm). Half-titles, The Fellowship of the Ring signed by Tolkien, folding maps printed in red and black tipped in at end; minor toning, one or two stray spots. Modern full green crushed morocco, covers with gilt rules, spines with raised bands in six compartments, second and third with gilt-lettered brown morocco labels, others with repeat gilt rules and cornerpieces, topstained burgundy, marbled endpapers; minor scuffs or indentations to upper cover of The Two Towers, some spotting to fore-edges. First editions, first printings, signed by Tolkien on the general half-title of The Fellowship of the Ring.
[Update - the signature has been called into question]
Estimate: $5,000 - 7,000 (USD)
Final bid: $40,320
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