.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Late 19th Century
Details
J.R.R. Tolkien's Merton College Desk
Late 19th Century
A mid-Victorian mahogany and satinwood rolltop pedestal desk
The moulded top above the roll top enclosing a fitted interior of five drawers and ten pigeon holes above the pull out writing surface with five simulated drawers, the top inset with three gilt tooled green leather writing surfaces, the central inset an adjustable ratcheted writing slope revealing one compartment, the whole above a moulded frieze with central lock, flanked by two pedestals each with three drawers on a moulded plinth base, the leather writing surfaces with significant damage
46 in. (117 cm.) high; 59 ½ in. (151.5 cm.) wide; 30 in. (76 cm.) deep
The Merton Desk, owned and used by J.R.R. Tolkien during his tenure as Merton Professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford (1945–1959), was the site of much of the author’s work during his most productive and creative literary period.
Late 19th Century
A mid-Victorian mahogany and satinwood rolltop pedestal desk
The moulded top above the roll top enclosing a fitted interior of five drawers and ten pigeon holes above the pull out writing surface with five simulated drawers, the top inset with three gilt tooled green leather writing surfaces, the central inset an adjustable ratcheted writing slope revealing one compartment, the whole above a moulded frieze with central lock, flanked by two pedestals each with three drawers on a moulded plinth base, the leather writing surfaces with significant damage
46 in. (117 cm.) high; 59 ½ in. (151.5 cm.) wide; 30 in. (76 cm.) deep
The Merton Desk, owned and used by J.R.R. Tolkien during his tenure as Merton Professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford (1945–1959), was the site of much of the author’s work during his most productive and creative literary period.
Provenance
The property of J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973), from at least 1955 when pictured in his office at Merton College Oxford, until at least 1959;
from whom acquired directly Dame Iris Murdoch (1919-1999) and John Bayley (1925-2015);
by inheritance to the current owners.
from whom acquired directly Dame Iris Murdoch (1919-1999) and John Bayley (1925-2015);
by inheritance to the current owners.
Literature
Getty Images. Picture Post / Haywood Magee photographs (2 December 1955).
P. Conradi, Iris Murdoch: A Life, London, 2001, p. 569 , illustrated, p. 578.
A. N. Wilson, Iris Murdoch As I Knew Her, London, 2003, p. 33.
A. Horner, April, and A. Rowe (eds.), Living on Paper Letters from Iris Murdoch 1934-1995, London, 2015, illustrated, pp. 578-579.
P. Conradi, Iris Murdoch: A Life, London, 2001, p. 569 , illustrated, p. 578.
A. N. Wilson, Iris Murdoch As I Knew Her, London, 2003, p. 33.
A. Horner, April, and A. Rowe (eds.), Living on Paper Letters from Iris Murdoch 1934-1995, London, 2015, illustrated, pp. 578-579.
Brought to you by
Thais Hitchins
Junior Specialist