Intimate photographs and letters providing a rare glimpse into J.R.R Tolkien’s secretive world have been sold for almost £40,000.

The archive of images showing the Lord of the Rings author relaxing in his study and in his garden with his wife Edith were taken by society photographer Pamela Chandler — whose reputation led to photographic commissions from celebrities, royalty and major literary publishers during the 1960s.

The collection includes an image of Tolkien in his study with his own hand-drawn [sic] map of Middle Earth [sic] where The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogy [sic] was set.…