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Help me determine if this was really him, please.

RonnaS

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Joined
Jun 16, 2024
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8
Hello. I guess I’m asking peoples opinions here. Way back in 1973 I wrote a letter to Ballantine Books. It was for JRR Tolken telling him that I had just finished his books and how much I loved them
Anyways, I received a letter back and I’ve saved it all these years. I have the actual letter and the envelope with the date on it.
A short while later, my mom called me in the living room to see that on the news he had just passed away. I’ve saved these items all my life because I thought I had his signature.
But just lately I’ve looked at all the signatures, the other signatures, that people have. And I’m doubting that mine is his. I’m thinking now that maybe somebody from Ballantine just scribbled his name on a mimeographed paper and sent it to me.
The letter I received was mailed on August 1, 1973. He died September 2, 1973.
He may have been too ill to actually answer me and I’m pretty damn sure he wasn’t in New York at the time.
But all my life I’ve held onto this thinking it was real.
What does everybody here think?
 

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Even though being unlikely to be real given the other signatures, probably the only way to be safe, or as close as you can get, is to ask the Tolkien Estate. I had no dealings with them before and don't know if they have a policy in place concerning such questions, but I'd say it is worth a try. Or maybe don't, and save the last bit of reasonable belief in the validity of this signature, to let this letter be the prized possession signed by the Professor himself, it has been to you for decades.
 
@RonnaS, I'm a member on the Paul Godfrey Corfield music Discord.

On that discord, there is a person who is VERY involved with the gathering and cataloging of Tolkien's letters, including many (hundreds and more) not yet published. He and his team work directly with the estate I believe. (And all they have is catalogued into a searchable library for Tolkien nerds.)

I have a suspicion he may be able to give you some clear insight into the letter, the circumstances at the time, and its existence/validity. Also, even of it's not directly from Tolkien himself, it's most likely from someone authorized to write on his behalf during his last days.

While it may not bear the same lustre, it should, in my personal opinion, still have just a little shine to it for you.

If you're interested, I'm sure he wouldn't mind taking a look.
 
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@RonnaS in another note, Tolkien WAS still reading and replying to his own fan mail, up until the end of August '73. But there were also secretaries signing stuff on his behalf.

The fellow at the Discord would be more than happy to take a look at it for you - he and his group - to help you come to a final determination. The one thing the Estate hasn't given them is the ability to actually declare something 'authentic' for purposes of auction, etc. That's still solely with the estate. But they're very versed in identifying the 'real' from the 'secretarial' from the 'fake' etc. as they build this body of materials.

If you're interested, go to Paul Corfield Godfrey's website here: https://www.paulcorfieldgodfrey.co.uk/ and click on the black "Join Us On Discord" bar center left. Set up an account. The user "OnTheTrail" is the fellow involved in this work.
 
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JRRT was alarmed at the volume of fan mail he received specifically after the million-seller success of the Ballantine Books paperback in the US starting around 1966. He fled with his wife Edith from Oxford to Bournemouth in 1968, with unlisted phone number (and paper-mail address?) for precisely this reason. He did return to Oxford after Edith's death in 1981, when he was 79. For JRRT, "his" publisher was George Allen & Unwin, the one he remained in personal contact with. And almost certainly, GA&U (also) had form letters for a large part of the mail arriving addressed to JRRT.
What we know from the letters published by Humphrey Carpenter in 1981, even the expanded edition of 2023, JRRT always addressed letters he wrote personally directly to the recipient, definitely not "Dear Reader". Precisely this 2023 edition sports a facsimile of JRRT's signature, closely resembling that in @Vorondil 's above post. On the other hand, the J, the T and the k in your letter bear no resemblance to tat in either signature. Also, the dots under the three first initials are missing, and the writing in the Ballantine letter is slanted to the top left, something that catches my attention because that rare handwriting style is one that my father used.
 
I will definitely check it out. I’d like to know. I never had any intention of selling it if it was real. I’m like a dragon… I’ve been sitting on my egg for a long time. It’s my egg!
 
OK, I’m going to go ahead and have it checked out by the guy on discord.
I also forwarded the information to Ballantine Books, asking if that was their standard procedure.
I just want to thank everybody for their opinions. Help soften the blow.
I swear, it really bums me out!
Oh well…
Once again, thank you for all your assistance and opinions. I value them.
 
RonnaS said:
I will lob it back…
Click to expand...
I want to thank you for the information. He did confirm that it is definitely not him and somebody at the book Company.
I’m going to say it again and no amount of pay it’s OK! It’s going to help me. I am bummed out. For 50 years I thought I had something special. But I don’t. But it’s not like I dwell on things too terribly so I’ll get over it.
Thank you SO MUCH for your assistance.
Truly.
 
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