John Roberts wrote to Tolkien in August, 1955, after the first two parts of the "Rings" trilogy had been published, asking when the third volume would be completed.

Tolkien's hand-written reply apologised for the delay and expressed delight that his reader had enjoyed the story so far. It also gave a sneak preview of some of the contents of the final book.

Now, more than half a century later, Professor Roberts has decided to sell the letter, which is expected to go under the hammer for about £2-3,000 at Bonhams in London, on Tuesday (November .

Prof Roberts, who at the time he wrote to the author was living in south London, teaching and carrying out historical research, said Tolkien was beginning to be noticed, but on nowhere near the scale of fame his books would attract decades later, especially when the film of The Lord of the Rings was released.

Kept letter for 53 years

He wasn't altogether surprised when Tolkien replied. "Authors will reply if you write to them. I kept his letter, thinking it was worth having, and when we were having a clear-out at home, it surfaced with a lot of other letters and papers from the past. His letter was the only one that I thought was saleable, and now we will have to see."

Prof Roberts, 82, of White Horses Way, had a teaching career in England and Canada, mostly in higher education, and spent his last 15 years before retiring in 1992 at New England College, at Tortington, near Arundel. He is now actively involved with Arun University of the Third Age.

As for the third part of the "Rings", he said: "The wait was worth it. It was splendid, up with the first two parts, and they became one of the most famous works of the second half of the last century, without a doubt."

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