Timothy J. Wheeler corresponded with J.R.R. Tolkien in late 1965 and begin 1966. He was the founder of the Rally Magazine, a journal four young conservatives that ran from 1964 to 1967, which was a sort of a triple-A farm team for National Review; many later-prominent conservative writers had their first pieces published in Rally. Two issues, August 1966 and July-August 1966, had articles on Tolkien. This lot includes two letters by J.R.R. Tolkien to T.J. Wheeler, a letter by tolkien's assistant and some other rare Tolkien ephemera. - MORE INFO ON THIS LOT CAN BE FOUND
HERE.
Letter 1:
TLS, one page, 76 Sandfield Road, Oxford letterhead, 20 October 1965, signed by J.R.R. Tolkien. Accompanied by the original mailing envelope. In fine, clean condition.
We present
a J.R.R. Tokien autographed typed letter mentioning the publication of the ballantine books:
"Thank you for your interest and support. ballantine Books is about to bring out a paper-back edition revised by myself. This should make it worth the few cents difference in price, of which I shall receive about one third."
Adding a note on the Ace Books:
P.S. It must be noted that Ace Books are acting legally, whether morally or not, and purchasers of their edition have no claim in law to a return of money.
Letter 2:
TLS, one page, 76 Sandfield Road, Oxford letterhead, 10th January 1966, signed by J.R.R. Tolkien. Accompanied by the original mailing envelope. In fine, clean condition.
Letter two shows a wonderful
flourishing 1966 Tolkien signature in a typical letter (with typical answer) from Tolkien around this period; where he was very uncertain he would ever complete another book on his beloved Middle-earth. Late 1965 and begin 1966, he received too much of fan correspondence to be able to work on any more Middle-earth related writing. He writes:
"Thank you for your letter. I hope you will not think that I am ungrateful for your attention and good wishes if I say that I do not feel able to write anything such as you wish. I do wish you well, but I do not think that I would really do you much good to have special good wishes from me."
Letter 3:
TLS, one page, 76 Sandfield Road, Oxford letterhead, 1st August 1966, signed by Phyllis M. Jenkinson (tolkien's assistant). Accompanied by the original mailing envelope. In fine, clean condition.
A nice example of
a letter by tolkien's assistant Phyllis M. Jenkinson, who signed the letter with P.M.J. She was helping Tolkien out answering a lot of his (fan)correspondence. She writes:
Thank you so much for sending me the copy of RALLY.
Also included in this lot are:
- a rare article by Jared Lobdell from the August 1966 issue of Rally called "Words That Sound Like Castles". The issue will also be included in this lot.
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the original sketch of J.R.R. Tolkien used to illustrate the article
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a carbon copy of a letter to J.R.R. Tolkien dated 22 August 1966, written by Timothy J. Wheeler, mentioning the August 1966 article of Jared Lobdell in Raly.
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a 2 page typed letter to Christopher Tolkien, written by Timothy J. Wheeler on July 27, 1987, mentioning the essays by Jared Lobdell about J.R.R. Tolkien in Rally Magazine and the visit of Christopher Tolkien at Mythcon.
Letters from Tolkien are quite uncommon and highly coveted; typed signed examples which have a connection to rare Tolkien Ephemera have become scarce. This lot would be a very great addition to any Tolkien collection.
Digital photo's available, inquire if interested.
Other Tolkien books available, include both the UK and US editions, original cloth bindings, custom fine bindings, and Signed/Numbered/Limited Editions.
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