Lord of the Rings creator JRR Tolkien’s vision of what a hobbit REALLY looks like is revealed as letter to illustrator is set to sell for $25,000
- Letter from J.R.R Tolkien to illustrator expected to fetch £15,000 at auction
- It details what the Lord of the Rings creator thought hobbits should look like
- Said characters are ‘absolutely ordinary human beings’ and ‘not too childlike’
A candid letter by J.R.R Tolkien describing what hobbits should look like has emerged for sale for £15,000.
The Lord of the Rings creator tells an illustrator they should be ‘absolutely ordinary human beings’ and ‘not too childlike’.
He adds that characters like Bilbo Baggins need to have ‘a neat goatee’ or ‘buskin of hair’.
The illustrator, a Miss Sykes, had submitted some drawings of hobbits to Tolkien in a previous correspondence.
A letter by J.R.R Tolkien that is set to go to auction for £15,000 gives an insight into how the Lord of the Rings author thought hobbits, the book’s human-like characters, should look like. Pictured: Elijah Wood as Frodo and Sean Astin as Sam in a scene from Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Tolkien was seemingly so impressed with her drawings he offered to buy some of them in the letter from July 1956, although he added he has no money to pay in advance.
He writes: ‘I have shown your drawings to other “readers” and the response has been good; though most agree that the best way of doing hobbits is to make them absolutely ordinary human beings (except for a neat goatee or buskin of hair), and not too childlike, round-eyed etc.
‘…I should be very pleased to see any further drawings you make; though I cannot encourage any great hopes of your labour being rewarded in a practical way in the near future.
The letter, addressed to an illustrator named ‘Miss Sykes’, says hobbits should be ‘absolutely ordinary human beings’ and ‘not too childlike’. He adds that characters like Bilbo Baggins need to have ‘a neat goatee’ or ‘buskin of hair’
‘I like some of the drawings so much that I should like to consider asking you to allow me to purchase some for myself.’
Tolkien also confides in Miss Sykes that he was ‘overwhelmed by Lord of the Rings business’ after being laid low by illness earlier in the year.
The Hobbit, Tolkien’s middle earth fantasy novel, was published in September 1937 with a first run of just 1,500 copies
The two page handwritten letter is going under the hammer with auctioneers Hermitage Fine Art, of Monaco.
A Hermitage Fine Art spokesperson said: ‘This is a superb letter from Tolkien describing his illustrated vision of the Hobbits.’
The Hobbit, Tolkien’s middle earth fantasy novel, was published in September 1937 with a first run of just 1,500 copies.
Following its success, the Lord of The Rings trilogy was penned by Tolkien over the next 12 years and published in 1954 and 1955.
They are among the best-selling novels ever written, with over 150 million copies sold, later being turned into three acclaimed films.
Tolkien died in 1973.
The sale features in Hermitage Fine Arts’ Autographs, Manuscripts and Photogrpahs auction tomorrow in Monte Carlo.