Antiques Roadshow 1937 U.K. Hobbit Appraisal

is that an accurate valuation ?

Gerontius Took wrote:

is that an accurate valuation ?

I was wondering the same thing. I suppose it could be bought for that price but wasn't quite sure. I know that recent first prints (without the jacket) have sold for between 15,000 - 25,000 GBP (tomwayling). Recently some non-jacketed copies have even sold for less, though those sales have additional fees as they were at auctions. Naturally, the jacket would add quite a bit of value!

While the book and the jacket are both in good condition, I wasn't sure if that would be a reliable market price.

SamwiseTheBrave wrote:

Gerontius Took wrote:

is that an accurate valuation ?

I was wondering the same thing. I suppose it could be bought for that price but wasn't quite sure. I know that recent first prints (without the jacket) have sold for between 15,000 - 25,000 GBP (tomwayling). Recently some non-jacketed copies have even sold for less, though those sales have additional fees as they were at auctions. Naturally, the jacket would add quite a bit of value!

While the book and the jacket are both in good condition, I wasn't sure if that would be a reliable market price.

Accurate for antiques roadshow is the top end of the market for any item. Usually the evaluator will say something like "at auction if everything breaks right, it could sell for this number. Or at auction with a few eager buyers it could be bid up to this number." So the 100K USD figure he sites would be under the perfect circumstances most likely.

One thing to keep in mind, with rare and antiquarian books that still have their jacket all or mostly intact, much of the value is located in the jacket. 1st edition Hobbits (and others) with a complete, unrestored DJ vs ones that do not have one at all, there is a significant value difference.

Another thing to keep in mind, is that this is the opinion of one rare book dealer. If you canvased many you would get varying answers. It's why we work so hard here to record auction and second hand sales so that we can get closer to a real answer when someone asks the question "What is this book worth?"

The general rule of thumb I have heard (and mostly seen in action) is that the jacket is about 90% of the value for antiquarian and rare books. So if a fine copy without jacket sells for £10k then a fine/fine copy could well sell for £100k.

Keep in mind that $100k is about £74k in today's market, as well.

Recent tracked auctions I found with a quick site search:

• Sothebys VG- 1/1 with jacket: sold 18 June 2025 for $76,200 https://www.tolkienguide.com/modules/n ... t_id=62752#forumpost62752
  

• Bonhams VG 1/1 with jacket: sold 19 June 2025 for £58,820 https://www.tolkienguide.com/modules/n ... t_id=62424#forumpost62424
  

Neither of those is as nice as the Antiques Roadshow copy jacket from what I can tell from a few photos.

Thanks for posting these Urulókë, this is exactly what I was talking about and my initial reaction was that the estimate was actually a tad bit conservative for the condition this item is in.

I also think that the book dealer's comment that only 20-25% of the jackets on these are still in existence is probably pretty accurate as well. Even less so for the HMCO US 1sts.

Yes I agree on the valuation being perhaps a little soft. I would be very, very happy to buy that copy at $100k.