Farmer Giles of Ham. Embellished by Pauline Diana Baynes. London: Allen & Unwin, 1949. First Edition. Original decorated orange boards, front and spine panels stamped in light blue; illustrated endpapers; publisher’s pictorial dust jacket. Occasional marginal foxing, light browning to endpapers, toning to head of boards. Dust jacket price-clipped, but overall in nice bright condition. Housed in a custom clamshell box.

A Superb Association Copy, Inscribed by Tolkien at Christmas 1949 to a fellow examiner at University College Galway.

 “With best wishes from J.R.R. Tolkien. Christmas, 1949”

Beneath this, the recipient, Professor Diarmaid Murphy, has added his own inscription in Gaelic:

‘D. Ó Murchú, Caméirghe, Gaillimh’

Tolkien served as an external examiner at the University of Galway for 1949, 1950, 1954 and 1959, where Murphy was lecturing in English and both men are listed as examiners on the examination papers from that period.

Tolkien’s encounters with the West of Ireland—especially the Burren in County Clare—left a subtle but traceable imprint on The Lord of the Rings. The most compelling evidence comes from his repeated visits between 1949 and 1959, when he served as an external examiner at University College Galway. During these years, he was actively revising and finalizing the trilogy, and scholars argue that the region’s stark limestone pavements, caves, and Celtic mythic atmosphere helped shape elements of Middle‑earth’s landscapes, languages, and lore.

A rare and compelling association copy, linking Tolkien’s academic life, his Irish travels, and the creative geography of Middle‑earth.

[Hammond & Anderson A4a],