Latest news with #HubertPriestley
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Unimaginably rare' first edition of The Hobbit sells at auction for £43,000
A rare first edition of JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit that was found during a house clearance has sold at auction for £43,000. Bought by a private collector in the UK, the book is one of 1,500 original copies of the seminal fantasy novel that were published in 1937. Of those, only 'a few hundred are believed to still remain', according to the auction house Auctioneum, which discovered the novel without a dust cover on a bookcase at a home in Bristol. Bidders from around the world drove the price up by more than four times what the auction house expected. Caitlin Riley, Auctioneum's rare books specialist, said: 'It's a wonderful result for a very special book.' Riley added: 'Nobody knew it was there. It was just a run-of-the-mill bookcase. 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.' The copy is bound in light green cloth and features black-and-white illustrations by Tolkien, who created his Middle-earth universe while a professor at the University of Oxford. The book was passed down in the family library of Hubert Priestley, a botanist connected to the university and the brother of the Antarctic explorer and geologist, Sir Raymond Edward Priestley. It is likely the men knew each other, according to Auctioneum, which said Priestley and Tolkien shared mutual correspondence with his fellow author CS Lewis, who was also at Oxford. The Hobbit, which was followed by The Lord of the Rings, has sold more than 100m copies and was adapted into a film trilogy in the 2010s. A first edition of The Hobbit with a handwritten note by Tolkien in Elvish, a family of fictional languages, sold for £137,000 at Sotheby's in 2015.
Irish Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
‘Astonishingly rare' first edition of The Hobbit sells at auction for nearly €50,000
A rare first edition of JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit that was found during a house clearance has sold at auction for £43,000 (€49,250). Bought by a private collector in the UK, the book is one of 1,500 original copies of the seminal fantasy novel that were published in 1937. Of those, only 'a few hundred are believed to still remain', according to the auction house Auctioneum, which discovered the novel without a dust cover on a bookcase at a home in Bristol. Bidders from around the world drove the price up by more than four times what the auction house expected. 'It's a wonderful result for a very special book,' said Caitlin Riley, Auctioneum's rare books specialist. 'Nobody knew it was there. It was just a run-of-the-mill bookcase. 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.' The copy is bound in light green cloth and features black-and-white illustrations by Tolkien, who created his Middle-earth universe while a professor at the University of Oxford. The book was passed down in the family library of Hubert Priestley, a botanist connected to the university and the brother of the Antarctic explorer and geologist, Sir Raymond Edward Priestley. It is likely the men knew each other, according to Auctioneum, which said Priestley and Tolkien shared mutual correspondence with his fellow author CS Lewis, who was also at Oxford. [ Why does Lord of the Rings appeal to the radical right? Opens in new window ] Ms Riley added it was astonishingly rare to find a first edition in such good condition. 'Being a children's book, most of them have seen children's hands, children's colouring pens in some cases, so to have one that appears to be completely unread and never enjoyed is really, really astonishingly rare,' she told the BBC. The Hobbit, which was followed by The Lord of the Rings, has sold more than 100m copies and was adapted into a film trilogy in the 2010s. A first edition of The Hobbit with a handwritten note by Tolkien in Elvish, a family of fictional languages, sold for £137,000 at Sotheby's in 2015. - Guardian
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
First edition of The Hobbit sells for a ‘record-breaking' £43,000
A rare first edition of JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit that was found during a house clearance has sold at auction for a 'record-breaking' £43,000. Bought by a private collector in the UK, the book is one of 1,500 original copies of the seminal fantasy novel that were published in 1937. Of those, only 'a few hundred are believed to still remain', according to the auction house Auctioneum, which discovered the novel without a dust cover on a bookcase at a home in Bristol. Bidders from around the world drove the price up by more than four times what the auction house expected. Caitlin Riley, Auctioneum's rare books specialist, said: 'It's a wonderful result, for a very special book.' Riley added: 'Nobody knew it was there. It was just a run-of-the-mill bookcase. 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.' The copy is bound in light green cloth and features rare black-and-white illustrations by Tolkien, who created his Middle-earth universe while a professor at the University of Oxford. The book was passed down in the family library of Hubert Priestley, a botanist connected to the university and the brother of the Antarctic explorer and geologist, Sir Raymond Edward Priestley. 'It is likely that both men knew each other,' according to Auctioneum, which said Priestley and Tolkien shared mutual correspondence with author CS Lewis, who was also at Oxford. The Hobbit, which was followed by the epic series The Lord of the Rings, has sold more than 100m copies worldwide and was adapted into a film trilogy in the 2000s. A first edition of The Hobbit with a handwritten note by Tolkien in Elvish, a family of fictional languages, sold for £137,000 at Sotheby's in 2015.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Rare copy of The Hobbit sells for 'record-breaking' sum
An "astonishingly rare" first edition of The Hobbit has sold for a "record-breaking" £43,000 at auction. The copy of JRR Tolkien's novel is one of only 1,500 copies that were printed in 1937. It was discovered without a dustcover on a bookcase during a home clearance in Bristol. It was sold to a private collector in the UK through an online auction at Auctioneum in Bath, Somerset, earlier. Caitlin Riley, the book specialist from the auction house, said: "It's the quintessential auction story. Everyone dreams of finding a rare item hidden in plain sight, and here we are." More news stories for Somerset Listen to the latest news for Somerset The book, which was only expected to fetch between £10,000-£12,000 at auction, attracted hundreds of bidders from all over the world. Ms Riley said the book is in "absolutely beautiful condition" and she believed it sold for a record price for a first edition without a dustcover. "House clearances can be tricky, stressful and troublesome... this could have so easily been sent to landfill, or disposed of by someone who didn't realise it was there," she added. The book came from the family library of Hubert Priestley who was a famous botanist in the 1930s and brother to the Antarctic explorer and geologist, Sir Raymond Edward Priestley. Priestley had strong connections to the University of Oxford where Tolkien stood as Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon and a Fellow of Pembroke College. Both men knew fellow author C.S. Lewis and it is likely that they knew each other. "It's the connection to Tolkien and the important provenance that makes this book so special. It's not just any first edition; it belonged to someone who very likely called Tolkien an acquaintance," Ms Riley said. She added it was astonishingly rare to find a first edition in such good condition. "Being a children's book, most of them have seen children's hands, children's colouring pens in some cases, so to have one that appears to be completely unread and never enjoyed is really, really astonishingly rare," she said. The Hobbit is one of the most successful children's novels, with more than 100 million copies sold. The story is set in the fantasy world Middle-earth and follows the hobbit Bilbo Baggins on a quest to find treasure. The rare edition that was sold also includes rare drawings by Tolkien himself. Follow BBC Somerset on Facebook and X. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. More on this story Home clearance unearths rare copy of The Hobbit Rare round egg sells at auction for £420 Menu signed by Albert Einstein sells for £18,000
BBC News
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
'Astonishingly rare' The Hobbit book sells for 'record-breaking' sum
An "astonishingly rare" first edition of The Hobbit has sold for a "record-breaking" £43,000 at copy of JRR Tolkien's novel is one of only 1,500 copies that were printed in 1937. It was discovered without a dustcover on a bookcase during a home clearance in was sold to a private collector in the UK through an online auction at Auctioneum in Bath, Somerset, Riley, the book specialist from the auction house, said: "It's the quintessential auction story. Everyone dreams of finding a rare item hidden in plain sight, and here we are." The book, which was only expected to fetch between £10,000-£12,000 at auction, attracted hundreds of bidders from all over the Riley said the book is in "absolutely beautiful condition" and she believed it sold for a record price for a first edition without a dustcover."House clearances can be tricky, stressful and troublesome... this could have so easily been sent to landfill, or disposed of by someone who didn't realise it was there," she added. The book came from the family library of Hubert Priestley who was a famous botanist in the 1930s and brother to the Antarctic explorer and geologist, Sir Raymond Edward Priestley. Priestley had strong connections to the University of Oxford where Tolkien stood as Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon and a Fellow of Pembroke men knew fellow author C.S. Lewis and it is likely that they knew each other."It's the connection to Tolkien and the important provenance that makes this book so special. It's not just any first edition; it belonged to someone who very likely called Tolkien an acquaintance," Ms Riley added it was astonishingly rare to find a first edition in such good condition. "Being a children's book, most of them have seen children's hands, children's colouring pens in some cases, so to have one that appears to be completely unread and never enjoyed is really, really astonishingly rare," she said. The Hobbit is one of the most successful children's novels, with more than 100 million copies story is set in the fantasy world Middle-earth and follows the hobbit Bilbo Baggins on a quest to find rare edition that was sold also includes rare drawings by Tolkien himself.
