Khamûl wrote:

Are the paperbacks particularly collectable?

I think people who are trying to complete sets of paperbacks seem to find them hard to find. I helped a couple of people by buying copies cheaply (NZD 20 for the pair ) in NZ and on-shipping them. I think it is just the usual thing where books take a while to filter back onto the market - I don't personally find them collectible (and don't own them), but I don't collect any paperbacks beyond the 80s.

Trotter wrote:

This site uses affiliate links for which we may be compensated

J R R TOLKIEN / The Hobbit Fourth Impression 1st Edition 1946

165559978724

Seller: julianrobertsbooks

(1824)

Ended Sep 16, 2022

This item ended more than 90 days ago

That's silly money for a VG+ '46 with no jacket.

A UK 1937 First Impression Hobbit up for sale on AbeBooks. Signed and inscribed by Tolkien. No mention of a dustjacket. From the website no dust-jacket.



$475,000.

Presentation copy, inscribed by Tolkien on the flyleaf, "Mr. & Mrs. Livesley & Edgar with best wishes from J.R.R. Tolkien." The recipients, the Livesleys and their son Edgar, ran the Kennaway House, a Regency town house in the village of Sidmouth, East Devon which Tolkien used as a summer holiday home and the surrounds of which inspired the landscapes, flora, and fauna of The Shire"…

https://www.raptisrarebooks.com/produc ... ien-first-edition-signed/

It is this copy

Livesleys or Livesey: friends of the Tolkien family, probably the Mr. & Mrs.Livesey who, along with their son Edgar, then a teenager, ran a guest house called ‘Aurora’ in Sidmouth on the Devonshire coast, where the Tolkien family stayed during their summer holiday each year between 1934 and 1937 (it is not clear if they also stayed at the Liveseys’ during their 1938 visit). See the Family Album (pages 64– 5) for a description of these family vacations. Some of the Allen & Unwin correspondence is actually sent from or to ‘Aurora’, such as Tolkien’s letter to Furth on 13th August 1937, in which he notes ‘I shall be at above address until Sat. Aug 21’, and Furth’s reply of 16th August 1937 (Allen & Unwin archives).

Tolkien, J. R. R.; John D. Rateliff. The History of the Hobbit: Mr Baggins and Return to Bag-End (Kindle Locations 19971-19976). Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

It sold for for £107,100, about $128,000 at Sothebys in 2021 https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auctio ... t-or-there-and-back-again

Certainly a fantastic collector's item, but what do you think about the price? I mean, almost half a million dollars...

Ridiculous price

A huge mark up of over $300,000 since the start of the year.