I don't suppose Michael or even Tolkien pere was the sort to leave pencilled marginalia? Now wouldn't that be fun to find!
Tell davem I'm glad he got the books he wanted. Were there any other of Michael's books which he choose not to buy?
Once upon a time I lived near the shore of this side of the Atlantic. I recall summers spent almost constantly in fog, with no bird song but the constant drone of the foghorns. This English fascination for the sea is a bit beyond me--all that lapping, sloshing sea like nausea in the stomach. Give me a forest or mountain any day or even a river.
signed,
hewer of wood, drawer of water