Christie's, TOLKIEN, Autograph manuscript

I have to say this is one of the coolest items I've ever seen up for sale.

Thanks for sharing!

All the corrections were made, but there is one difference that I could find between the manuscript text and the printed text.

'In Rivendell before I set out I was shown a map of Mordor that was made before the Enemy came back there;...'

'In Rivendell before I set out I was shown a map of Mordor that was made before the Enemy came back here;...' Lord of the Rings 1 volume Alan Lee illustrated edition ISBN 978-0-00-752554-6 page 950 line 22

Recording here something I posted elsenet, regarding why this MS did not get sent to Marquette:

I believe what happened was this: Late in the process of reviewing galleys, Tolkien noticed a problem, or otherwise grew dissatisfied with distances pertaining to Mordor in RotK. I believe the query on the back is his, and the front is his attempt to answer the question he set himself. To do so, he first copied out passages citing distances from the galleys (in brown ink), and then worked out revisions to the distances and corresponding alterations to the text (in, chiefly, red ball-point). He then passed this sheet along with the galleys back to the printer, who made (and noted) the alterations Tolkien indicated. The sheet probably got dislocated in that process, and remained in the hands of the printer/publisher.

Aelfwine wrote:
The sheet probably got dislocated in that process, and remained in the hands of the printer/publisher.

If that was the case, it should still be in the GA&U archive at HarperCollins, which it is not.

My assumption is that someone at GA&U, took the item. I hope that Christie's have checked the seller's title to this item.

The manuscript is evidently the corrections to Book VI, Chapter 2 Tolkien sent to Rayner Unwin on 14 April 1955 -- see Chronology for that date (2nd ed., p. 477). This was eight days after Tolkien returned the related part of the marked proofs (6 April) and two days after W.N. Beard sent the corrected proofs to the printer (12 April). Rayner probably would have handed the additional sheet on to Beard, who would have sent it in turn to the printer. It may be that it never was returned to Allen & Unwin, but retained by the printer, or taken as a souvenir by one of the printer's employees.

Christie's description assigns 'red, blue, black, and pencil' markings to 'copy editors'. My guess is that the red circles and check marks, and the blue page and line citations, were made by a compositor, or by a composition supervisor, to verify corrections, and that the person in charge there (JL) initialed and dated the completed work. All of the black ink is in Tolkien's hand, and I believe the penciled text is also.

Wayne

Agreed, except that I think the red (ball-point) circles and accompanying superposed (ball-point) numbers (i.e. 1), 2), 3) etc.) were made by Tolkien, to indicate to the compositor which marginal note/correction corresponded to which location. The adjacent check-marks do indeed seem to be due to "JL", indicating the adoption of each alteration.

Agreed, except that I think the red (ball-point) circles and accompanying superposed (ball-point) numbers (i.e. 1), 2), 3) etc.) were made by Tolkien, to indicate to the compositor which marginal note/correction corresponded to which location. The adjacent check-marks do indeed seem to be due to "JL", indicating the adoption of each alteration.

On reflection -- looking again at ink density and color -- I agree with your exception, though circling words would be typical in copy-editing or directing corrections. Anyway, a very interesting piece of working manuscript.

I've now seen the pencilled query on the verso, and it does not look like Tolkien's hand. So it appears that someone else, possibly the printer, noticed the discrepancy in distances in the text and passed a query along to Tolkien, who then proceeded to address it.

Sold for $81,250