In a tale worthy of Middle-earth itself, a rare first edition of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit—long hidden on a dusty bookshelf in a Bristol home—has sold for a staggering £43,000 at auction, shattering expectations and setting a new benchmark for Tolkien collectors worldwide.
The book, one of only 1,500 printed in the original 1937 run, was discovered during a routine house clearance by Auctioneum, a Bath-based auction house. Nestled among ordinary volumes on a “run-of-the-mill bookcase,” the copy lacked its original dust jacket but was otherwise in pristine condition. Caitlin Riley, Auctioneum’s rare books specialist, described the moment of discovery as “unimaginably rare” and “a true thrill”.
“Nobody knew it was there,” Riley said. “It was clearly an early Hobbit at first glance, so I just pulled it out and began to flick through it, never expecting it to be a true first edition. I couldn’t believe my eyes.”
The book belonged to the family library of Hubert Priestley, a botanist with ties to the University of Oxford, where Tolkien himself was a professor. Auctioneum revealed that Priestley and Tolkien likely knew each other and shared correspondence with fellow Oxford luminary C.S. Lewis.
Bound in light green cloth and featuring Tolkien’s own black-and-white illustrations, including a map with Germanic script, the copy is a testament to the author’s meticulous world-building and artistic flair.
Initially expected to fetch around £10,000, the book attracted global interest, with bidders from the U.S., Canada, Norway, and Australia driving the final hammer price to £43,000. Including auction fees, the total paid exceeded £52,000.
This sale smashed the previous record for a first edition without a dust jacket, which stood at £19,000. For comparison, a copy with a handwritten note in Elvish by Tolkien sold for £137,000 at Sotheby’s in 2015.
Published in 1937, The Hobbit introduced readers to Bilbo Baggins and the enchanting realm of Middle-earth. It laid the foundation for Tolkien’s epic The Lord of the Rings trilogy and has since sold over 100 million copies worldwide. Its enduring popularity was further cemented by Peter Jackson’s film adaptations in the early 2000s.
This astonishing find is more than a collector’s prize, it’s a reminder of the enduring magic of storytelling and the hidden treasures that may lie just beyond the next bookshelf. As Riley put it:
“To think that just a few weeks ago this book was sat undiscovered on a bookshelf in a Bristol house, and has gone on to make headlines around the world, is quite incredible.”
About the Author
Discover more from Geek Digest
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
