First Edition Fantasy Novel Could Be Worth a Dragon’s Hoard
A rare copy of The Hobbit found while cleaning house shows that you don’t always have to go on an epic journey to find a treasure.
In J.R.R. Tolkien’s book The Hobbit, the titular hobbit reluctantly leaves the comforts of home to join a quest to retrieve treasure stolen by a fearsome dragon. For English auction house Auctioneum Bristol, treasure proved to be much closer to home. Audtioneum had been called in to assess the contents of a house in Bristol after its owner passed away. To everyone’s surprise, a first edition, first impression of The Hobbit was hiding in plain sight on a bookshelf. Auctioneum offers the book in its “Books & Works On Paper” timed online auction, which closes August 6. They expect it to sell for at least £10,000, or about $13,400.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes!” Caitlin Riley, Book Specialist at Auctioneum, said in a statement from the auction house. “When I realised what it was, my heart began pounding. It’s an unimaginably rare find!”
Once The Hobbit was published, the fantasy genre would never be the same. Tolkien, a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University, drew on his expertise in languages, literature, and mythology to craft a story that was both a fairy tale and an adventure, accessible to children and appealing to adults, set in a vivid, magical world with memorable characters. It is still one of the best-selling books of all time. The first printing, which took place in September 1937, consisted of only 1,500 copies, all of which were sold by December of that year. At the request of publisher George Allen & Unwin, Tolkien soon began to work on a sequel, which became his epic The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The copy selling at Auctioneum is bound in the original green cloth with Tolkien’s illustrations, but is missing its dust wrapper, which was also designed by the author. It has some minor flaws and signs of wear, but is in overall good condition. Considering the rarity of the edition, these flaws are unlikely to affect the value.
Because of the limited number, first impressions of The Hobbit are extremely rare and highly sought by collectors. There are several ways to recognize these copies. One of the clearest is the presence of 10 black and white illustrations by Tolkien. Some later editions keep Tolkien’s illustrations, but colorize them.
The book came from the family library of botanist Joseph Hubert Priestley (1883-1944), whose brother, Sir Raymond Edward Priestley, was a geologist and Antarctic explorer. It has not been confirmed if either brother knew J.R.R. Tolkien personally, but Sir Raymond Priestley had connections to Oxford University and was known to correspond with Tolkien’s good friend C.S. Lewis, author of the Chronicles of Narnia series, so it is possible.
Other highlights of the Books & Works On Paper auction include a first impression of the second revised edition of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which has already surpassed its high estimate of £250; a rebound first edition of Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory with an estimate of £5,000 to £7,000; limited first editions of several Oscar Wilde books; and a signed presentation copy of The Tale of Mr. Tod by Beatrix Potter, expected to sell for £2,000 to £2,500.
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