Tolkien Four Volume Signed Set Sold For $61,599 at RR Auction

A signed collection of J. R. R. Tolkien's four most celebrated works, comprising The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, has sold for $61,599 at RR Auction's recent Fine Autographs and Artifacts auction.

Other highlights included:

• Malcolm X prison archive ($94,699)
• Al Capone 1926 twice-signed 'Gold Coin' Chicago bank document ($37,500)
• Oscar Wilde signed photograph to his assistant editor Arthur Fish ($37,500)
• George Washington signed document as President, ship's papers for a West Indies trade mission ($26,488)
• Steve Jobs signed Seybold Seminar Guide page ($23,750)

The exclusive four-volume Tolkien set, housed in custom-made quarter-leather clamshell cases and gilt-lettered on the spines, included: 

* The Hobbit (third edition, first impression, London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1966), a hardcover edition in the publisher's original green cloth boards, signed and inscribed on the title page, "For Mr. I. Chambers, J. R. R. Tolkien." This edition features pictorial map endpapers, a color frontispiece, and three additional color plates. The personal bookplate of the bookseller Ivan Chambers, O.B.E., is affixed opposite the half-title.

* The Fellowship of the Ring (first edition, second impression, London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1954), a hardcover edition signed by Tolkien on the first free end page and presented in very good to fine condition

* The Two Towers (first edition, second impression, London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1955), also signed on the first free end page, the volume is in very good condition with overall mottled toning

* The Return of the King (first edition, first impression, London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1955), signed by Tolkien on the first free end page, in very good to fine condition