‘Holy Grail’ Hobbit Book Set To Sell For Thousands Later This Month

The true first edition of J. R. R. Tolkien’s 1937 seminal work ‘The Hobbit’ was discovered hidden away in a bookcase during a routine house call in Bristol. It’s expected to fetch over £10,000 when it goes for auction later this month, and is one of only 1,500 copies initially printed in September 1937.

Such was the popularity of the book that within weeks all copies had been sold and a second printing was undertaken. The surviving books from the initial print run are now considered some of the most sought-after books in modern literature. 

Discovered during a routine house call in Bristol, the original owner had passed away and we were called in to assess the contents. The book was discovered hidden away in an old bookcase. ‘Nobody knew it was there,’ says our Book specialist, Caitlin Riley. ‘It was just a run-of-the-mill bookcase, containing the usual reading and reference books you’d expect to find. It was clearly an early Hobbit at first glance, so I just pulled it out and began to flick through it, never expecting it to be a true first edition.’

‘I couldn’t believe my eyes! 'There are a few key details to look out for when spotting one of the first editions, and as I looked into each one, they were all there. When I realised what it was, my heart began pounding. It’s an unimaginably rare find!’

The book has come from the family library of Hubert Priestley, a famous botanist in the 1930s, and brother to Antarctic explorer and geologist Sir Raymond Edward Priestley. Priestley had strong connections to the University of Oxford where Tolkien was the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon and a Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford. Both shared mutual correspondence with fellow author C.S. Lewis, and it is likely that both men knew each other. 

The rare first edition is bound in light green cloth and features black and white illustrations by the author; the only printing to do so, as later editions colourised them.

‘The popularity of The Hobbit has only grown since its first publication,’ says Caitlin. ‘The book was published to huge critical acclaim, and is one of the best-selling stories of all time. The subsequent Hobbit film series in the mid-2000’s only further cemented its appeal, and brought the tale to a whole new audience. We’re expecting world-wide demand for this rare first edition.’

First edition, first impressions of The Hobbit rarely come up for auction. Out of the 1,500 printed, only a few hundred are believed to still remain. This example carries a pre-auction estimate of £10,000 to £12,000 (plus 21% buyer’s premium) and goes under the hammer in our Books & Works On Paper Auction on August 6^th. The full catalogue can be viewed here.