Most Expensive Book Ever On Antiques Roadshow ❦ The Hobbit (1937)
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- Опубликовано: 31 июл 2024
- In this video we look back to a first edition of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit that was taken to Antiques Roadshow in 1990. In today's market it would be the most expensive book ever shown on the programme.
But what was it valued at then, what has happened to the book since, and what would it be worth today?
00:00 - Introduction
00:27 - What Is The Book?
07:48 - The 1990 Valuation
09:33 - What Has Happened To The Book?
10:38 - What Is It Worth Today?
My name's Tom and I'm an antiquarian bookseller making videos about the world of rare books and manuscripts.
www.tomwayling.co.uk 
Развлечения
I'm not sure if Tom reads these comments but I'd just like to put out here what a comfort this channel is. In a world gone and going bonkers this is a small touch of sanity that calms the mind and spirit.
It's like a good book on a rainy day with hot cocoa :)
Very well said & I agree.
Well said. I completely agree.
Love the long-form video for a change!
Thank you! New long form videos every Sunday going forward!
@@tomwaylingwow this is great thank you
@@tomwaylinggreat news!!!!!
Yes! I join several others in saying: More long format please! Loved this!
Your passion is infectious!
Thank you! Will do!
Well north of $500k now. I mean, is there another 1st with "from Ronald with much love" out there? Supremely personal. Well presented. Those catalogs are art works.
500K? no way, would it break $100K? more than likely.
Possibly 1.5M. Dust jacket is the only tattered-ness….BUT first edition DJ.
Books now are VERY VALUABLE …NOW…MEGA market for first editions. 10 x plus now…800K - at least 1M.
Loved this Tom. Thank you for a wonderful listen
Glad you enjoyed it!
My family still has our first edition inscribed to my Great Uncle C.S. Lewis
I like how you so politely avoided saying the roadshow expert was wrong. Loving the new content
That’s what o hate abt that show😭 they’re typically right with the info but underprice so bad
I'm not sure how the road show could be considered wrong. I'm assuming video referenced The best comparable with the 1989 sale before that episode and it sold for less than the evaluation. A good evaluation is based on actual sale data.
Yes the market was on rapidly on the rise based on the 1991 Sale refenced but to me it seems like a good appraisal at the time with maybe a comment warranted that there is a likelihood or suspicion that the market for such books is exploding.
Tom is a gentleman.
I don't think he was politely avoiding it, I don't think he thought it. If something is valued in 1991 and then re-valued in 2003, after inflation and the resurgence of Tolkien popularity brought by the film trilogy, it doesn't mean the original valuation was "wrong," it means the value has increased based on as I said, inflation, demand and market conditions. Things the original valuer could not forsee.
£48,000 in 2003 seems like an absolute bargain also, i was expecting you to say at least a few hundred thousand, and for it to be worth close to a million today.
A first edition Hobbit book signed by Tolkien, personalised to his aunty Jane, also with a hand written letter to her about the actual book. That sounds like the holy grail of all book collections to me.
I was a teenager during this time, and I remember how the movies created a new wave of fans. I had not read the books at the time and the movies blew me away. If this book had sold after the films, perhaps it would have gone in the six figures.
I would absolutely die. This is fantastic!! Also, interesting that the Hobbit was first published the day before Bilbo and Frodo's birthdays.
Only £3,500? Even in 1990 that sounds ridiculously low to me. £35,000 is probably more like it. Whoever bought it in 2003 also seems to have got a bargain.
Tape is a b*tch 😂
Based on the 1989 sale refeneced the evaluation could be considered a bit high £3500 in 1990.
The later 1991 more comparable sale refenced shows that the market still would not likely support a £35,000 value a year later.
Wow! you make this whole book talk sound so so enthralling and enchanting. Thanks for such great content Tom.
Finally a 'reaction video' that's not just taking someone else's work. Great work, Tom.
Really well put together giving us the background and the context of who Aunt Jane is. Personally I was shocked how low the roadshow estimate was and even its eventual sale price seems modest.
Well lotr was well received but it got way bigger since the movies - this might be the correct estimate for this book at this time.
I'd love more of your long form work, it's a topic I know very little about and a curated dip into rare, important and interesting books, book related topics and frankly whatever you want to show us! Thank you for your work, already a channel I keenly follow.
I could listen to you do these all day long. Wonderful.
I remember watching the 3500-pound episode and thinking 'I would have slapped down the money, and been out the door, before the full stop fell'. Then, hidden it under a mountain to keep my precious safe.
That roadshow expert was definitely trying to get themselves a deal
@@jaxwagen4238*himself
Fabulous vid. Looking forward to the longer vids Tom.
I don't know much about rare books but I do know about the LoTR fandom and was thinking the whole time that it had to be worth six digits now.
Great video, Tom. So very interesting. Can't imagine coming across that book in the ol' family library!
Thanks for the interesting video and enthusiasm about the subject. I remember the original AR valuation and going to grab my cheque book at the time…
Stories are powerful. How apt a tale as this for a book as this iconic in our modern world.
I hope you continue to make videos. Your natural passion for beautiful books is wonderful and I hope contagious so as to encourage others to collect and more importantly read these magnificent works of literature.
Fascinating video. Looking forward to the next one.
I have only seen one dust-jacket that did not have the Dodgeson>Dodgson correction. Wish my dust-jacket on my copy was in anywhere as near as good a condition as Aunt Jane's copy 😢
Having one at all makes it better than most!
This was wonderful. Thank you ❤
Incredible analysis! Fascinating! What a dream it would be - how I would treasure a signed Tolkien first edition from his own lifetime!! 🤩
I remember watching this episode. I was absolutely gobsmacked by the price. 😊😆
what a great video, thanks for a longer video!
I enjoyed every minute of this, both your passion and research. I'm not Tolkien reader, but fans seeing this must be just beside themselves. But I love any book's story!
I so love your channel, Tom. Thank you.
This content makes me want to sit down and watch more. Thanks!
Oh my this was fantastic 😍 greetings from Dominican Republic 💙
Great video! I have always daydreamed about finding a first edition in the back of an old book store, or in an estate sale or loft... this video kind of dashes my hopes as I realise that people are probably keeping goof tabs on them lol. Still really enjoyed this :D
This video is incredible. Absolutely love your passion!Finally the algorithm did something good!
I agree,the long format is more satisfying
I’m considering getting a degree in rare books so your channel is so helpful! Keep at it!!
Your love for books is contagious!
Tom's excitement is so contagious that I can't help but smile.
Incredible video! Hope to see more long form!
More to come!
I can’t stop watching these videos!
Goose bumps watching this. Ive been a huge fan of the lord of the rings for as long as i can remember.
Mr. Ayling,
You are inspiring me to spend much more time at flea markets here in America searching for books. Although I am enjoying the ‘hunt’, my wife may not be your biggest fan 😂
This was good. I really enjoyed it.
One of your best videos!
Wow, thanks!
Your passion is infectious.
I absolutely love your channel
That was a complete surprise, and I think that you have correctly assessed the actual value of this incredible little book. I’m surprised that it was seemingly so undervalued in the Sotheby’s auction, but with such a high profile, public space at which to be sold I suppose that was its approximate worth, though I’d have paid twice that if I had the means to do so. Interesting video.
Thank you. As a bibliophile and fan of Tolkien was fascinated by this.
My grandfather owns a numbered first edition first printing signed edition of Ulysses ...
Wonderful to see and hear, love books.
I love the long form content.
How could he not use gloves for such a priceless book!
Kidding I love your videos, Tom❤️
because you risk to tear it.
@@Tvianne twas a joke
@@panicbuyflax3461 ahhhh, ok.
I saw that episode and at the time it was seriously underprised even then
I'm pretty sure my dad had a copy with that cover many years ago. Unless my memory is playing tricks on me.
I was surprised to observe that my 1995 hardback edition has the same dust jacket design as the original 1937 edition.
Man looking at that book I am drooling. I have a couple of signed first editions but nothing like that. I would love to have something like that on my bookshelf.
I notice that Tracy Tolkien, wife of Simon and daughter-in-law of Christopher, did not bother to research her husband’s family enough to know who Aunt Jane was.
Dodgson’s surname was pronounced Dodson; we know this because he wrote to penfriends explaining that the name should be spelled with a g though the letter was not pronounced.
350k seems like still a bargain ♡
Thank you for taking the time of making this video. You have a very calm voice.
I have a question if I may. I own first editions of old books (Hornblower series, several Antoine de St. Exupery and Montecristo). I also inherited a short manuscript of a children book written by my grand father at the beginning of WWII.
None of those books were expensive but they are nonetheless treasures. What simple precautions should I take to protect them for a long time?
Luckily books are relatively easy to look after, and they are hardy enough to survive for hundreds of years.
The ground rules are:
Keep them in a stable environment - around 60-70F or 16-20C and at a stable humidity (40-50% relative humidity if you measure it).
Keep them out of direct sunlight.
Shelve them upright on a shelf with other books, using bookends for support if necessary.
Take them off the shelves to look through them and lightly dust them from time to time.
Hope this helps!
@@tomwayling thank you very much for your answer! :D
Great video! Your microphone kept cutting out when you lean back or hold a book between you and the microphone.
Brilliant video Tom but please speak closer to the mic - we can't hear you properly!
*A fine and fun revisiting of perhaps THE greatest copy of "The Hobbit" in public hands. Your deliberate and **_fact-based_** valuation is esp. welcomed.*
*(A rare and refreshing approach amidst RUclips's commentariat where "armchair experts" shoe-horn mere opinion in place of **_inviolable facts.)_* 🏆
Look at the crowd gathering
only the popcorn is missing 😁
Amazing😮
I have a first edition of the hobbit. Would be glad to share photos.
I remember watching that Roadshow episode and being surprised at the low figure for the book... but I'm certainly not a book collector.
Heya Tom!
Brilliant work!
As it happens, I just received a metric assload of books and comics -- some more than 100yrs old. Including a printing of Macbeth. Where should I go to have them valued, if you know? I'm in the US
Absolutely brilliant!
I borrowed a copy that looked like that from my library recently. Unfortunately I didn't have much time so I didn't get to read the whole thing
Probably a fascimilie. I hope at least 😂
Thanking you
Awesome, than you.
make your volume a little louder. outside of that, it's perfect.
In the early 1960s, I read The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Even though I was an avid reader of anything I could get my hands on, I didn't like LotR. However, sometime later I read The Hobbit and loved it. In my opinion The Hobbit should have been Book One of the Lord of the Rings QUARTET.
A magic piece of history
Insane prices. Insane.
Remember, my school library having a dust cover exactly like that.
I agree I would see no reason it wouldn’t fetch 350k, it’s the holy grail.
More long form vids pls
I was going to guess a quarter million.
I thought it was generally better *not* to have a personalized inscription, but rather simply a signature.
Other way around - especially if the dedicatee is someone well-known or with a connection to the author.
The date (Sept 22nd) is also important for another reason... it's Bilbos birthday! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
The great British missionary to Australia and New Zealand FW Boreham. Who is the greatest Christian essayist in history. His rarer books are going for thousands now and are highly collectible in the states for years. Maybe you can honor him with a video.
September 22 is also Bilbo's birthday.
"I would have easily paid £3500 for it" But you none of you were there in 1991 when the item was valued. Otherwise the demand would have been huge and the price would have gone up... simple supply and demand. The price was that low because there was a much smaller market, and you have to take into account inflation.
Tolkien would pen in a correction. You sometimes just have to have faith in the stories we've pass down.
Sackville-Bagginses watching intently. =^p
Got same Book to
Homie this is an extremely interesting video. Simply fascinating source material, and for me, easy click bait. But every time you bounce away from the microphone it. is. maddening. I have to keep turning up and then instantly lowering the volume whenever you go back to the original video. The sound on the A.R. portions are far louder than when it cuts back to you. Great content, though.
Maybe its just me because I really don't have a family history but I can't imagine selling something like that. I have a gold watch from my great grand father and other than my kids and wife it's the one thing I'd save in a house fire.
Can I offer a tip for your videos. Some sort of opening and closure with a logo? Maybe some music? Just to make you stand out a bit more
Really need to adjust for inflation for all of these things mind!
Goring's estate could purchase the book
What a treasure.
Buyer pays $300,000. Opens the book. "Hey, where's the letter to Auntie Jane??" "Oh, I put that in the recycling..."
I'm not so bad about the glue strip. It proofs letter and book are one entity.
begging the question = assume as true the very proposition you're trying to prove.
The Hobbit...never heard of it !
it is worth what someone is willing to pay for it from someone who is willing to sell it.
If I had that kind of money I would buy it. But then again thats why I am not rich.. moneywise;)
I'll have to check out if my 1937 second impression is worth anything!
UK or US? Second impression or second edition?
@@nicks40 UK 1937 Unwin second impression but no dust cover.
@@rosettiwrites definitely, take it to a reputable auction house or dealer, preferably several of them, don't just jump at the first offer
@@woofbarkyap Absolutely - I had it valued by Bonhams Auction House just from photos but haven't decided whether or not to sell it. It's been with me since I was 10!