Good finding. A first edition of Hobbit British Tolkien writer, discovered by chance during the storage of a house in Bristol in England, was sold at an auction on Wednesday for 43,000 pounds (around 49,300 euros).
The initial estimate had been set at 10,000 pounds (around 11,500 euros), but the work was finally bought more than four times more expensive for a “private collector in the United Kingdom”, according to Maison Auctilas.
1,500 copies worldwide
“It is a fantastic result for a very special book,” which attracted auctions from all over the world, welcomed the expert Caitlin Riley, cited in a press release.
It was one of the 1,500 copies printed in 1937, during the first edition of what became a global sales success. The book comes from the Hubert Priestley Family Library, a botanist who “probably” met the author, according to Auctor.
“No one knew that the book was there,” said Caitlin Riley, before the sale. It was she who made the happy discovery in the house during a storage room.
“I did not believe that my eyes (…) are in an unimaginable rarity,” said Caitlin Riley.
With its pale green cover, the book includes black and white illustrations by the author. All editions that followed have color illustrations, specify the auction.
The hobbit, wanted at the base as a book for children, tells the adventures of Bilbon Sacquet and a group of dwarves, which left to reconquer the kingdom of Erebor and a fabulous treasure, fallen between the claws of Smauug, a dragon fire.
In 2015, an original edition with an eligible language dedication had been sold at an auction to 137,000 pounds (187,000 euros), by Sotheby’s in London.
Source: BFM TV
