A rare book in Scotland was brought to a charity’s flea market.
The first edition of The Hobbit. The book in the picture has cover papers, unlike the first edition found now. PDO
Sometimes it’s just that you make such discoveries at the flea market that you never thought you’d come across in the old world. That’s what happened to the manager of the British Cancer Research Centre’s charity flea market in Dundee, Scotland.
The author of the Tale of the Lord of the Rings had brought a rare first edition to their store by JRR Tolkien The Hobbit, that is, there and back from the book. It is Tolkien’s first novel from 1937.
The prices for the charity flea market are only five pounds at most, but it was decided to put the book up for online auction. The book was in very good condition for its age, which in itself made collectors interested. However, the book did not have cover papers.
A map is also printed inside the first edition of The Hobbit. PDO
The print run of the first edition was only 1,500 copies. The manager believed the book would fetch around £500, but the estimate fell flat – The Hobbit the first edition was sold for 10,099.50 pounds, i.e. about 11,901 euros. The proceeds from the book went to charity.
For the Guardian it was reported that such deals enable life-saving research in the UK. The paper notes that The Hobbit the price has risen even higher over the years: in 2015, a book containing Tolkien’s inscription was sold at auction for 137,000 pounds, i.e. around 160,000 euros.