Tolkien Letter on Tom Bombadil: Rare Book of the Week
The Tolkien letter about Tom Bombadil
A signed typed letter by J.R.R. Tolkien to a fan about the language in his recently published The Adventures of Tom Bombadil is among the items coming up for auction at Swann Galleries' autograph sale on November 8.
In the November 8, 1963, letter to D.L. Paul (estimate: $6,000-$9,000), Tolkien thanks him for the praise for the new work, apologies for his delayed reply to poor health, and mentions his work on new Red Book chapters expanding on The Lord of the Rings and discussing a hobbitese term:
"The connection of 'cram' with 'cramsome' is purely coincidental. 'Cramsome' is merely hobbitese for 'filling', so your wife is right."
The hobbitese adjective "cramsome" appears several times in Perry-the-Winkle, one of the poems published in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil while mentions of "cram" in The Fellowship of the Ring and The Hobbit suggest that this noun refers to a type of bread.
Other highlights from the sale include:
- an autograph letter signed by Theodore Roosevelt declining to dwell upon the recent death of both his wife and mother by launching straight into his work
- an autograph letter signed by L. Frank Baum in which he offers to donate to charity the manuscript for the book he considers his best work, The Emerald City of Oz
- a fair copy of Beatrix Potter’s poem The Wanderings of a Small Black Cat signed by her
- a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird signed by Harper Lee and the cast of the 1962 film
