1937 1st/1st Hobbit Auction 7th October

A rare first impression edition of J.R.R Tolkien's classic children's book The Hobbit which features a handwritten correction has sold for a whopping £59,800.

The sought-after copy was one of the first ever printed and includes original maps and illustrations by the author.

It is adorned with a wraparound cloth depicting the iconic dark blue mountains and deep-green forests of Tolkien's fantasy world.

The family who sold it were completely unaware of its true worth until a valuer visited their home in Dorset and spotted it on a dusty bookshelf.

Only around 1,500 first impression copies were printed in 1937 making those which come to auction highly collectable.
This rare first impression edition of J.R.R Tolkien's classic children's book The Hobbit which features a handwritten correction has sold for a whopping £59,800 at an auction in Dorset

This rare first impression edition of J.R.R Tolkien's classic children's book The Hobbit which features a handwritten correction has sold for a whopping £59,800 at an auction in Dorset

This one was sold at Duke's Auctioneers, Dorchester, Dorset, for a hammer price of £46,000, with premiums taking it to £59,800, to a buyer in the US.

The back flap of the cover contains a misspelling of Reverend Charles Dodgson in the book's notes, better known by his pen name of Lewis Carroll, author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

The famous error meant printers had to draw a tiny line, by hand, through the errant 'e' on every single copy.

Dodgson was known to proof read Tolkien's early work and only first editions of the Hobbit bear the correction to his name.

Rufus Bird, head of sale at Duke's, said: 'This result shows how much demand there is not only for Tolkien's works but also for unseen works fresh to the market.

'The vendors had no idea they had such a valuable book on their shelves until a Duke's book consultant carried out a routine valuation at their house in Dorset.

The book is one of only 1,500 editions printed with an error - the misspelling of Charles Dodgson also known as Lewis Carroll who used to proofread the early works of Tolkien

'They don't know how the book came into their possession, but it is tempting to speculate that they acquired it because Tolkien regularly spent holidays in nearby Lyme Regis close to the family home.

'It is also possible the family were given it by a distant relative, Maurice Evan Hare, a prodigious writer of limericks.

'They were delighted and flabbergasted at the result. They couldn't believe the book with a slightly tatty dust jacket had just sold to an overseas buyer for over £50,000'.

J.R.R Tolkien wrote The Hobbit, his first work, during his time as a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College, Oxford.

He also designed the original dust jacket and illustrations for the novel, including maps of his fantasy universe and a picture of Smaug the dragon.

The children's story was published to huge critical acclaim and has since been published in over 60 languages.

He later wrote his largest work, The Lord of The Rings, as a sequel to The Hobbit between 1937 and 1949.

Tolkien passed away in Bournemouth in 1973 aged 81.

Dodgson was known to proof read Tolkien's early work and only first editions of the Hobbit bear the correction to his name.

A FIRST edition of The Hobbit has sold for almost £60,000 at auction in Dorchester.

The incredibly rare find was discovered after a consultant from Duke's Auctioneers made a routine valuation of books at a resident's house in Dorset.

J.R.R. Tolkien's award-winning fantasy novel, which sold at auction for £59,800 inclusive of fees, was published on 21 September 1937, with 1,500 copies printed - selling out by December 15 that year.

Tolkien began work on his more popular work, The Lord of the Rings, in December 1937.

A spokeswoman from Duke's Auctioneers, said: "The vendors had no idea they had such a valuable book on their shelves until Duke’s book consultant carried out a routine valuation at their house in Dorset.

"They don’t know how the book came into their possession, but it's tempting to speculate that they acquired it because Tolkien regularly spent holidays in Lyme Regis, close to the family home.

"It's also possible the family were given it by a distant relative, Maurice Evan Hare (1886-1967) - who was a prodigious writer of limericks.

"When we called the owners after the sale they were delighted and flabbergasted at the result.

"They couldn’t believe the book with a slightly tatty dust jacket had just sold to an overseas buyer for over £50,000.

"In a text message to the specialist the vendor said they remember reading that very copy when they were young and it was the first serious book they read."

The The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, or simply known as The Hobbit, sold for a hammer price of £46,000 without inclusive fees as part of the Duke's Autumn Fine Art Auction - with the buyer from the east coast of the United States.

The story is set within Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle Earth(sic) and follows the quest of home-loving Bilbo Baggins, the titular hobbit from The Shire, to win a share of the treasure guarded by Smaug the dragon. Bilbo's journey takes him from his light-hearted, rural surroundings into more sinister territory alongside his companion Gandalf the Grey.

Head of sale of the auction, Rufus Bird, said: "There was strong international pre-sale interest. I had contact with buyers in Europe and the USA as soon as the sale was launched online.

"This result shows how much demand there is not only for Tolkien’s works but also for unseen works fresh to the market."

Duke’s Auctioneers is now inviting entries for its next fine art auction in the new year.