Lot 94 · Valuable Books and Manuscripts
One page, 252 x 202mm. Provenance : by descent from the recipient. 'I congratulate you on managing the metre. C.S. Lewis tried and was totally defeated' . Sending thanks for remembering him again this year [at Christmas] and best wishes to his family. Lots 92 and 93 show Tolkien engaging with Michael Bell on the subject of poetry, praising the work produced by Bell and his wife. Writing two years later, he mentions again C.S. Lewis; the composition of verse was among the many shared pursuits enjoyed by the two friends.
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- Estimate
- £1,000–£1,500 hammer ≈ $1,291–$1,936
- Result
- Performance
- Sale
- Christie's — Valuable Books and Manuscripts, London · 12 July 2023
- Dimensions
- One page, 252 x 202mm
- Record ID
- TB-2026-3344959
- Record
- first seen 28 Jul 2026 · updated 28 Jul 2026 · source ↗
- Cite this record
- TB-2026-3344959 — https://thebasis.art/cite/TB-2026-3344959
Tolkien, John Ronald Reuel. 1892-1973., One page, 252 x 202mm. Provenance : by descent from the recipient. 'I congratulate you on managing the metre. C.S. Lewis tried and was totally defeated' . Sending thanks for remembering him again this year [at Christmas] and best wishes to his family. Lots 92 and 93 show Tolkien engaging with Michael Bell on the subject of poetry, praising the work produced by Bell and his wife. Writing two years later, he mentions again C.S. Lewis; the composition of verse was among the many shared pursuits enjoyed by the two friends. Christie's, 12 Jul 2023, lot 94. result recorded. TheBasis.Art, TB-2026-3344959.
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Tolkien, John Ronald Reuel. 1892-1973., One page, 252 x 202mm. Provenance : by descent from the recipient. 'I congratulate you on managing the metre. C.S. Lewis tried and was totally defeated' . Sending thanks for remembering him again this year [at Christmas] and best wishes to his family. Lots 92 and 93 show Tolkien engaging with Michael Bell on the subject of poetry, praising the work produced by Bell and his wife. Writing two years later, he mentions again C.S. Lewis; the composition of verse was among the many shared pursuits enjoyed by the two friends. Christie's, 12 Jul 2023, lot 94. result recorded. TheBasis.Art, TB-2026-3344959.
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From the same sale Valuable Books and Manuscripts · Jul 2023
| Lot | Artist | Estimate | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vaticinia Pontificum , in Latin and Italian, 7 leaves from an illustr… | Pseudo-Joachim de Fiore (late 13th century) | £3,000–£5,000 | |
| Animal Farm , a collection of c.265 animation cels from the Halas and… | Halas and Batchelor studios (1940-1986) | £8,000–£12,000 | |
| On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection . London: John… | DARWIN, Charles Robert (1809-1882) | £80,000–£120,000 | |
| A Collection of Etruscan, Greek and Roman Antiquities from the Cabine… | HAMILTON, Sir William (1730-1803) and Pierre François Hugues, Baron d'HANCARVILLE (1719-1805). | £70,000–£100,000 | |
| The British Herbal. London: printed for T. Osborne and J. Shipton and… | HILL, Sir John (1716?-1775) | £9,000–£12,000 | |
| The Divine Warrior Battling the Beast, and The Beast Cast into the Po… | Master of the Burckhardt-Wildt Apocalypse | £40,000–£60,000 |
Comparable results nearest sold works, same medium & price band
| Artist | Lot | vs. estimate | Result USD, incl. premium | Sale |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tolkien, John Ronald Reuel. 1892-1973. | Typed letter signed (‘J.R.R. Tolkien’) to Miss Julie Cape, O | $5,476 | Christie's, Jul 2025 | |
| Tolkien, John Ronald Reuel. 1892-1973. | Autograph letter signed ('JRR Tolkien') to Michael Bell, [Ox | Christie's, Jul 2023 | ||
| John Gould | A Group of Owls, from Birds of Europe and Birds of Great Bri | Bonhams, Nov 2022 | ||
| Giuseppe Verdi | Rare Autograph Musica Quotation signed by Verdi from Falstaf | International Autograph Auctions, Dec 2024 | ||
| Einstein, Albert. 1879-1955. | Typed card signed. | Bonhams, Oct 2023 | ||
| Tolkien, John Ronald Reuel. 1892-1973. | Two titles: | Bonhams, Nov 2014 | ||
| Einstein, Albert. 1879-1955. | Typed letter signed ('A. Einstein') to A.C. Robbins, 112 Mer | Christie's, Dec 2021 | ||
| Giuseppe Verdi | Italian Composer. A very fine A.L.S., `G. Verdi | International Autograph Auctions, Jul 2021 |
The closest sold results by price, artist, and medium — the appraiser's comp set, generated from the corpus. All figures converted to USD at current reference rates.