A first edition of J.R.R. Tolkien‘s The Hobbit sold at a Sotheby’s auction for £137,000, or about $213,866. This more than doubled the previous amount paid for a first edition of the novel (£50,000 back in 2008) and exceeded Sotheby’s own estimation of between £50,000 and £70,000.
Tolkien inscribed the copy in Old English with an excerpt from The Lost Road, a work that the author abandoned. According to The Guardian, the inscription reads: “There is many a thing in the West-regions unknown to me, marvels and strange beings, a land fair and lovely, the homeland of the Elves, precious stones shining secretly in mountain caves.” (In The Lost Road, the final line reads “and the bliss of the Gods.”)
The book’s original recipient was a University of Leeds student named Katherine “Kitty” Kilbride, who passed away in 1966 and was, according to her nephew, and invalid who exchanged letters with Tolkien.
Now would be the time to see if any of your British ancestors attended Leeds.
(via The Guardian)
