Antiques Roadshow expert charmed by imperfectly signed Lord of the Rings books
JRR Tolkien is human after all.
What did you miss?
Antiques Roadshow played host to a charmingly imperfect Middle-earth book collection on Sunday, 5 January's episode.
Clive Farahar, who has appeared as an expert on the BBC programme for close to 40 years now, was introduced to a revised edition set of JRR Tolkien's works; The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King, and The Hobbit, by a lady whose late husband was gifted them by some relatives as a teenager.
Upon opening Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Farahar discovered that Tolkien, who passed away in 1973, had made a bit of a mess of signing it.
What, how and why?
According to the Roadshow visitor, an auntie and uncle of her other half (Michael Dobson) were neighbours of the legendary fantasy author when he lived down in Bournemouth, and so they got Tolkien to sign all four copies for a birthday present.
"They are all actually signed presentation copies, this is extraordinary," said Farahar, before bringing their attention to a scribbled-out section reading 'Signed for Michael Tolkien Dobson. JRR Tolkien.'
"I love this one particularly because it's so beautifully signed for Michael, and then he's crossed out the name here!"
Read more:
Antiques Roadshow jewellery expert was put in visitor's will
Antiques Roadshow expert blown away by 'curious fragment' of criminal history
Antiques Roadshow fans wish they'd never seen 'scary cardboard people'
The owner pointed out: "I think he actually wrote his own surname by mistake."
"Then he did this wonderful crossing-out with runes all over it and put in Dobson," continued the expert. "That's just incredible for an old man to take the time to do it for a neighbour."
Farahar went on to value the set at £25,000 in the current market, possibly due to the popular ongoing Rings of Power television series from Prime Video.
Tolkien has previous on Antiques Roadshow
Back in 2021, a gentleman named Charles produced a handwritten letter from Tolkien for the same Roadshow expert to check out - one that he'd received aged just 14.
The short letter was accompanied by the torn envelope it had been originally posted in, leading Farahar to give it an estimated £10,000 worth.
"I think it is the top of Tolkien letters. It’s extremely good," he said, with the guest revealing: "I regard it as a family treasure. Since it's addressed to me and has my name on it, I would not dream of selling it. It's a sort of 'My Precious.'"
Antiques Roadshow airs Sundays on BBC One.
