The Hobbit First Edition Sold for $206K at London Auction

The UK 1st edition of The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien fetched £137,000 ($206,000) at Sotheby’s in London.

The 1937 book, a gift from JRR Tolkien to one of his first students, has an inscription in Elvish written by the author.

The sale smashes the previous record for a sale of The Hobbit, set in 2008 when a first edition sold for £60,000 ($90,000).

JRR Tolkien gave the book to Katherine “Kitty” Kilbride, one of his students at Leeds University in the 1920s.

The Elvish verse is an extract from JRR Tolkien’s The Lost Road, part of his 12-volume History of Middle-earth.

The Hobbit introduced the character of Bilbo Baggins and the “one ring” that would feature again in his Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Sotheby’s had expected the first edition to fetch up to £70,000 ($105,000) at Thursday’s auction of children’s books and illustrated works.

Sonia Pantiss

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