Dallas-based Heritage Auctions is hosting a rare book auction featuring a handwritten letter from J.R.R. Tolkien, a leaf from the Gutenberg Bible and other literary treasures.
The two-page, handwritten, autographed letter from Tolkien to an enthusiastic reader dates back to the 1950s and is one of many centerpiece offerings in the auction running through July 28. The current bid for the letter is $5,000.
Heritage is also auctioning off a first-edition set of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, including the books' original illustrated first-state dust jackets. The current bid for the set is $18,000.
The page from the first volume of the Gutenberg Bible is currently at $33,000. The watermarked page is from I Kings (I Samuel) 29:6-31:12.
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The item currently drawing the highest bid is one of three known copies of James Otto Lewis: The Aboriginal Port Folio, complete with the title page. The item is "a collection of portraits of the most celebrated chiefs of the North American Indians." According to Heritage, the lithographic plates are "a legendary publication, complete here with the rare title page, all three 'Advertisement' leaves, and all eighty hand-colored plates."
This event promises something for every lover of the rare and timeless, such as coveted first editions of Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" or Herman Melville's "Moby-Dick" and a first edition of Ian Fleming's "Casino Royale," the Bond novel that started it all.
The full list of items that will be auctioned can be found here. For more information this auction, visit the Heritage Auction website.
