An “astonishingly rare” copy of JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit has sold for £43,000 at an auction in Bath, UK.
The book was found in a Bristol house clearance.
Caitlin Riley, of Auctioneum, who sold the copy, told the BBC: “It’s the quintessential auction story. Everyone dreams of finding a rare item hidden in plain sight, and here we are.”
The book, which has no dust jacket, was listed with an estimate of £10,000 to £12,000, but a global audience sent in hundreds of bids to push the final sale price – to a private collector – up to £43,000, which Ms Riley believes to be a record price for a Hobbit first edition with no dust cover.
The book has strong provenance and can be traced to the library of Hubert Priestley, who may have known Tolkien through their mutual friend CS Lewis and connections to Oxford University, where Tolkien worked as an academic.
A 1920s portrait of JRR Tolkien, who was an established, and middle-aged academic when he found fame as an author.
Ms Riley said: “It’s the connection to Tolkien and the important provenance that makes this book so special. It’s not just any first edition; it belonged to someone who very likely called Tolkien an acquaintance.”
The Hobbit is a children’s book and many copies have been damaged by enthusiastic young readers. Those put carefully on bookshelves by academics are a rarity.
JRR Tolkien’s work has become enormously popular over time. But the author had no expectations of fame. His earliest works, including The Hobbit, were written for his children. Just 1,500 copies of this title were printed when it was published in 1937.
Now 100 million copies of the book, which introduces the fantasy world of Middle Earth which is further explored in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and other works, have been sold.
Tolkien’s papers and rare editions of his work are collectible and valuable, as are items associated with the enormously successful film adaptations of his stories.
Signed first editions of the full set of the Lord of the Rings books can go for over £100,000 and the record price for such a set is £287,000 for a first edition, first impression set.
This sale shows it’s always worth checking bookshelves carefully.
