A rare 1968 edition of JRR Tolkien's "The Hobbit" has sold for £3,000 after being donated to an Oxfam charity shop in Stirling. The sale over the Christmas period set a record as the highest-priced book ever sold by the Murray Place branch.
The unusually scarce Longmans edition belonged to the "Pleasure in Reading" series aimed at primary school libraries and primary-school-aged children. Publishers printed approximately 1,500 copies across two impressions in 1968 and 1970, with experts believing fewer than 50 survive today.
Shop manager Neil Paterson discovered the valuable find among a stack of otherwise well-worn donated children's books. "When we realised what we had, there was a real buzz in the shop," he said. "It's a beautiful old copy with its own bit of mystery and magic about it; the sort of find every bookseller dreams of."
A Collector's Dream
The edition features Tolkien's iconic maps of Middle Earth on its endpapers and a brightly-colored cover illustration showing Smaug the dragon torching buildings against a mountain silhouette. The cover artist remains unknown.
Blackwell's Rare Books posted about the book's distinctive artwork on social media in 2024, asking: "Has there every been a cuter Smaug?" The bookseller described it as having "an adorably goggle-eyed version of the dragon."
Nostalgia and Impact
Paterson noted the book's appeal extends beyond collectors. "A regular customer told me it was the version they had at school, so it clearly sparks fond memories as well as serious collector interest," he explained.
The £3,000 will support Oxfam's global poverty relief efforts. "We couldn't be more thrilled that one generous donation has turned into thousands of pounds to help Oxfam's work tackling poverty and injustice around the world," Paterson said.
He emphasised the potential hidden in charity shop donations: "Every book has a story waiting to be discovered, and sometimes hidden gems like this Hobbit can completely take your breath away. Donating to Oxfam gives these books a second life, and browsing our shelves is a bit like stepping into a treasure hunt: you never know what extraordinary find might be waiting for you."
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
