Tolkien Stamps

I reached for my copy of Lord of the Rings the other day, and was surprised to find this set of stamps in there. They were published by Royal Mail back in 2004, not sure if that was a Tolkien anniversary or a tie in with the films. They were probably bought by my wife, she used to have a thing about stamps.

The stamps are held safely in a pouch, which folds out and gives a potted life story of Tolkien. Each stamp contains an illustration by the author.

I once read that Tolkien was very insecure about his illustrations. He wanted the books to be published with art, but was not confident in his own efforts. Like many artists, he probably under-estimated his talent. Even the simple line drawings are very evocative. 

Finally, a key to the illustrations. As a Tolkien nerd, I was very happy to make this chance discovery. The more I see the author's own artistic renditions, the more I marvel at the man's achievements.