An exceptional archive of Tolkien letters on his invented languages, Old English, and Runes, with original manuscript material inspired by Middle-earth. The archive includes four pieces of correspondence from Tolkien, documenting his relationship with a dedicated and knowledgable young fan named David Best. There is also a further piece of correspondence written by Best to Tolkien, which Tolkien has annotated to explain a Tengwar translation.
 
The archive also includes Best’s extraordinary manuscript notebooks, which comprise his translations into Runes of poems from The Lord Of The Rings, and The Adventures Of Tom Bombadil, which he sent to Tolkien for his approval and feedback.
 
Comprising:
1. A typed letter signed by J.R.R. Tolkien to David Best, with an initialled postscript in manuscript. 12th May, 1967. 1pp. Typed on 76 Sandfield Road headed paper. 
In the letter Tolkien confirms receipt of the first part of Best’s translation of Tom Bombadil, but says that he is going away, so has not had a chance to look at it yet. The letter is signed “J.R.R. Tolkien”. A six-line manuscript postscript in Tolkien’s hand reads, “I had time to look. It seems very correct. I am glad you used the genuine English runes (as in The Hobbit)”, and is signed “JRRT”.
2. A typed letter signed by J.R.R. Tolkien to David Best. 18th September 1967. 1pp. Typed on 76 Sandfield Road headed paper. In the letter, Tolkien is commenting on two further volumes of translations that Best sent him for review; the first being the second volume of Tom Bombadil, and the second titled “Selected Rhymes And Verses From The Lord Of The Rings”. He begins by apologising the delay in commenting on the translations and returning the books to best, “but I am a very busy man”. Overall, Tolkien considers that “it seems to me generally very accurate”, but notices one rune that Best uses for G that would be rare even in Old English usage. He explains that “the required rune for G in O.E. is X. Since G had in O.E. rather like Mod. E. two values, a ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ value, this X was sometimes used only for the soft value, and the hard was elaborated to <X>. In the recent English paperback edition of The Hobbit (in the one with the death of Smaug on the cover) you will find some notes at the beginning on the use of O.E. runes for the spelling out of Modern English.” Tolkien thanks Best for the courtesy of sending him a stamp with which to return the volumes, before signing “J.R.R. Tolkien”.
3. A signed note on 76 Sandfield Road headed paper, reading “With best wishes from Professor Tolkien” in a secretarial hand. This is a covering note, sent to Best by Tolkien when returning item 4.
4. Four manuscript notebooks, bound in one. Titled to the upper cover “Translations And Matters Of Lore And Language Of The Writing Of Professor J.R.R. Tolkien By D. P. Best”. Large octavo. Housed in a custom slipcase of Tengwar script in red and black.
Comprising:
i. Volume I Of The Adventures Of Tom Bombadil. Translated From The English By D Best. 20pp. The first part of David Best’s manuscript translation of The Adventures Of Tom Bombadil into Runes. This volumes includes The Adventures of Tom Bombadil; Oliphaunt; Fastitocalon; Cat; Shadow‑bride; The Mewlips; and The Last Ship, before concluding with a key to some of the runes, and then closing the volume with his translation of Farewell We Call to Hearth and Hall! from The Fellowship Of The Ring.
ii. Volume 2 Of The Adventures Of Tom Bombadil. Translated From The English By D Best In English Runes. 40pp. The second part of David Best’s manuscript translation of The Adventures Of Tom Bombadil into Runes. This volumes includes the longer poems from the book, Bombadil Goes Boating; Errantry; Princes Mee; The Man In The Moon Stayed Up Too Late; The Man In The Moon Came Down Too Soon; The Stone Troll; The Sea-Bell; The Hoard.
iii. Selected Rhymes And Verses From The Lord Of The Rings, Translated From The English By D.P. Best In English Runes. 40pp. Comprising The Ring-verse; The Road Goes Ever On; A Walking Song; Hymn to Elbereth; The Drinking Song; The Bath Song; "Farewell we call to hearth and hall!”; Tom Bombadil's song; In the House of Tom Bombadil; The Barrow-downs songs; The Fall of Gil-galad; The Song of Beren and Lúthien; Boromir's dream-verse; Bilbo's verse on Aragorn; "I sit beside the fire and think”; The Song of Durin; Lament for Gandalf; Galadriel's Song of Eldamar / Farewell to Lórien; Lament for Boromir; Treebeard's songs; Galadriel's messages; Lament for the Rohirrim;” Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden!”; Gollum's fish-riddle; Sam's Oliphaunt; From dark Dunharrow / the muster of Rohan; The Mounds of Mundburg; ”In western lands beneath the Sun”; The Eagle's Song; Legolas's Sea-longing; Bilbo's late verses. The volume closes with The Road Goes Ever On. In all this volume comprises translations into runes of all the poems in The Lord Of The Rings.
iv. A large, miscellaneous journal, chiefly comprised of writing in Tengwar and Runes, titled by Best in Tengwar to the cloth cover, and internally “In This Book Are Set Forth Matters Of Lore And Language Of All Sort. Both Of Anglo Saxon And Of The Writing Of Professor J.R.R. Tolkien. Many Things Herein Are Writ This Being The Only Writing In English.” 162pp.
5. An autograph letter from David Best to J.R.R. Tolkien, annotated by Tolkien. [June 1968]. 1pp. In the letter, Best asks Tolkien to translate the Elvish reproduced on the back cover of The Road Goes Ever On, which he transcribed as “aerlin in ethil O Imladris”. This has been corrected by Tolkien by hand, striking through the “eh” and replacing it in the margin with “dh”. At the bottom of the letter, Tolkien provides the translation in pencil, with additional commentary, “Hymn (of) the Edhil of Imladris = Rivendell. aer-lin holy song. edel (edhel) Elf (of high race) pl. edhil.”
6. Typed letter from J.R.R. Tolkien to David Best. 24th June 1968. 1pp. This is the covering letter sent to enclose item 5, saying “I return your letter with a note on the meaning of the words you enquire about.” This is initialled “P.M.J.” by Tolkien’s secretary Phyllis M. Jenkinson.
7. The Road Goes Ever On (George Allen & Unwin, 1968). First UK edition. Publisher’s cloth in the original dustwrapper. With a sheet of Best’s Tengwar notes loosely laid in.
8. The Adventures Of Tom Bombadil (George Allen & Unwin, 1975). Ninth impression. Publisher’s pictorial boards in the original dustwrapper. David Best’s copy, with his dated ownership inscription, and a Tengwar inscription, in red ink to the front free endpaper.
9. Five hand-drawn maps of Middle-earth by David Best, after J.R.R. and Christopher Tolkien. Comprising Thror’s Map; The Map Of Wilderland; The Map Of Middle-Earth; The Western Section of Middle-earth; A Sketch Of Dunharrow.
10. A selection of newspaper cuttings about Tolkien kept by Best.