First edition of “The Hobbit” sold for EUR 187,000

Newsroom 05/06/2015 | 12:01

A first edition of “The Hobbit” accompanied by a handwritten note in Elvish by British author J.R.R. Tolkien was sold on Thursday for EUR 187,000.

The book, auctioned by Sotheby’s, was a gift from the author and is dedicated to Miss Katherine (“Kitty”) Kilbride, one of his first students at Leeds University in the 1920s.

The highest amount obtained prior to the current sale for “The Hobbit” was recorded in 2008, when the first edition of the novel was sold for EUR 81,500.

The lines in Elvish – a language invented by Tolkien – are extracts from a verse in “The Lost Road”, a time-travel tale that Tolkien never completed, reports AFP.

The popular book, which introduced characters such as Bilbo Baggins who would re-appear in the “Lord of the Rings” epic, was turned into a hugely successful fantasy film series by director Peter Jackson.