A thrift-store manager found a first-edition copy of 'The Hobbit' in the backroom. It just sold for $13,000.
Sang Tan/AP Photo
- A thrift-store manager found a first-edition copy of JRR Tolkien's "The Hobbit" while organizing stock.
- He initially thought it was too old to be able to sell, according to The Independent.
- But the rare first-edition, one of just 1500 printed, sold on eBay for $13,000.
A manager at a charity thrift store in the UK found a rare, first-edition copy of JRR Tolkien's "The Hobbit," which just sold on eBay for £10,099.50 ($13,055.98), according to the Independent.
The book, which was first published in 1937, brought in a small windfall for the Cancer Research store in Dundee, Scotland, which normally sells items for £5 ($6.46) or less.
"The Hobbit" went on to become one of the best-selling books of all time, with over 100 million copies sold. It was also adapted into a big-budget trilogy of movies, which along with "The Lord of the Rings" became one of the highest-grossing movie series ever made.
"The Hobbit" has never been out of print, but few first-edition copies remain. Only 1,500 copies were printed in the book's first-ever run.
Adam Carsley, the manager of the Cancer Research store in Dundee, said he wasn't expecting to come across one when he was organizing stock in the backroom.
At first, he thought the "well looked after" book was going to be hard to sell in the store due to its age, according to the Independent. But then he examined it a little further.
"I opened the first page to see it was a first edition and thought it may be worthy of sending to the eBay team," Carsley said, per the Independent.
Even then he wasn't expecting such a high price. "At first, I thought we'd get a maximum of £500 if we were lucky so I couldn't believe it when I heard a few months later it had sold for over £10,000," he said.
Carsley told the Independent that it was one of the most valuable items donated to the store.
"Most definitely the highest price achieved on our eBay site for a single item," he said, per the newspaper, adding: "Donations like these help to fund lifesaving research across the whole of the UK."
Cancer Research did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Another first-edition copy of "The Hobbit" previously sold at auction in 2021 for £59,800 ($77,305), the Bournemouth Daily Echo reported.