Desk certificate 27 July 1972

Desk certificate 27 July 1972 refers to a certificate of authenticity written by J.R.R. Tolkien on 27 July 1972 for the sale at Sotheby's of his personal desk. The statement gives a brief history of the desk, stating that The Hobbit and some of The Lord of the Rings were written on it, and notes that the desk has been presented to Help the Aged in memory of Edith Tolkien (who gave the desk to Tolkien in 1927). The manuscript is held at the J.R.R. Tolkien Manuscripts collections at the Marion E. Wade Center (where also the desk is now found).