TOLKIEN FAN CORRESPONDENCE SELLS FOR £103,680 AT AUCTION

Books, letters and notes documenting the friendship between JRR Tolkien and Eileen Elgar, a profoundly deaf fan, sold at Sotheby's auction house in London for a combined total of £103,680 including seller's premium. The collection comprised materials dated between 1961 and 1964. Among the individual lots, a signed copy of The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and a letter referencing the death of author CS Lewis sold for £20,480. Will Passey, a specialist in the books and manuscripts department at Sotheby's, described the correspondence as a "moving" testament to the strength of their friendship.

Elgar lived near the Hotel Miramar in Bournemouth, where Tolkien and his wife holidayed annually. She initiated contact with Tolkien, who lived in Oxford, after reading his books and writing to him in the 1960s. Elgar's granddaughter, Helen Dutfield, described her grandmother as "quite an isolated figure" who had become absorbed by Tolkien's works. When Elgar and Tolkien met in person at her Bournemouth home, they communicated by written notes because Elgar had never learned to lip read. Dutfield said her mother had suggested Elgar write to the author after hearing her discuss the books repeatedly.

Passey noted that whilst Tolkien's published letters are relatively well documented, this particular collection had been "hitherto overlooked" by scholars and collectors. Elgar died in 1980. The sale demonstrates the significance of correspondence between established authors and their individual readers, particularly where such contact provided meaningful connection for an isolated correspondent.