A letter in elvish.
The first edition of The Hobbit.
A first edition of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” from 1937 sold for a new world record price of £137,000 at Sotheby’s in London today. This more than doubled the pre-sale estimate of £50,000-70,000.
Presented as a gift from the author to one of his first students at Leeds University in the 1920s, Miss Katherine (“Kitty”) Kilbride, it is inscribed with a handwritten note from the author in Elvish. The author continued to send letters, cards and books to her throughout his life.
The presentation copy inscribed by the author as follows: “K.M. Kilbride, with greeting from J.R.R. Tolkien” and four lines in Elvish. The Hobbit was first published in London by George Allen and Unwin Ltd. in 1937. The previous world record for a first edition of the story was £50,000 set in 2008.