J.R.R. Tolkien Signed Calligraphic “The Road Goes Ever On and On” Quote and Autograph Letter.

TOLKIEN, J.R.R.

Item Number: 105023

Exceptionally rare calligraphic quotation signed and entirely in the hand of J.R.R. Tolkien of The Road Goes Ever On, also known as A Walking Song, fictionally composed by Bilbo Baggins and first appearing in The Hobbit and later thrice in slightly differing versions throughout The Lord of the Rings. With the original autograph transmittal letter signed by Tolkien at the conclusion of which he has practiced his calligraphy for the final draft of the calligraphic quote. On Tolkien’s Merton College letterhead the letter reads, ‘Dear Mr. Hodgson, I am sorry that this letter dictated to my London secretary was not forwarded to you at once. It was sent to me for signature while I was away on a brief convalescence after being ill during January and February and the beginnings of March, and I regret that it came back with me, to become included in a heavy correspondence awaiting my return. With regard to the copy of the verses: I expect that it is only the first version L.R. I 44,82 and that also from version III 226 that you wish for. Do you wish for a copy in my normal hand in a more careful form (as here); or something more “calligraphic” in intention? But I warn you that neither will be very beautiful. My ageing hands are now losing their steadiness and such moderate skill as they ever had. “Yours sincerely J.R.R. Tolkien. The Road does ever on and on…The Road goes ever on and on down from the door where is began.” The letter is in fine condition and measures 7 inches by 5.25 inches. Double matted and framed, the final quotation, entirely in Tolkien’s hand reads, “The Road goes ever on and on down from the door where it began. Now far away the Road was gone and I must follow if I can. Pursuing it with eager feet, until it finds some larger way Where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say. J.R.R. Tolkien.” Matted with a notation which reads, ‘From the Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien Written Out by the Author 1973.’ In fine condition. Double matted and elaborately framed, the entire piece measures 21 inches by 18.5 inches. Exceptionally rare and desirable.

Both Tolkien's academic career and his literary production are inseparable from his love of language and philology. He specialized in English philology at university and in 1915 graduated with Old Norse as his special subject. Parallel to Tolkien's professional work as a philologist, and sometimes overshadowing this work, to the effect that his academic output remained rather thin, was his affection for constructing languages. The most developed of these are Quenya and Sindarin, the etymological connection between which formed the core of much of Tolkien's legendarium. Language and grammar for Tolkien was a matter of esthetics and euphony, and Quenya in particular was designed from "phonaesthetic" considerations; it was intended as an "Elvenlatin", and was phonologically based on Latin, with ingredients from Finnish, Welsh, English, and Greek. J.R.R. Tolkien's fully realized fantasy world won over generations of children, and dazzled adults with its deft interweaving of medieval legend and made-up languages, maps, and creatures. Tolkien legitimized the modern fantasy genre, and provided the 1960's counterculture with antiwar, back-to-Eden icons." (NYPL Books of the Century 199). His Lord of the Rings Trilogy, preceded by The Hobbit which introduced the character of Bilbo Baggins, has has went on to become the third best selling novel of all-time with 150 million copies sold.