Most Expensive Book Ever On Antiques Roadshow ❦ The Hobbit (1937)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 มิ.ย. 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 - บันเทิง
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!!!!!
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.
Yes! I join several others in saying: More long format please! Loved this!
Your passion is infectious!
Thank you! Will do!
Loved this Tom. Thank you for a wonderful listen
Glad you enjoyed it!
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
Finally a 'reaction video' that's not just taking someone else's work. Great work, Tom.
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.
I would absolutely die. This is fantastic!! Also, interesting that the Hobbit was first published the day before Bilbo and Frodo's birthdays.
Stories are powerful. How apt a tale as this for a book as this iconic in our modern world.
My family still has our first edition inscribed to my Great Uncle C.S. Lewis
I agree,the long format is more satisfying
I remember watching this episode. I was absolutely gobsmacked by the price. 😊😆
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.
I could listen to you do these all day long. Wonderful.
Wow! you make this whole book talk sound so so enthralling and enchanting. Thanks for such great content Tom.
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!! 🤩
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…
Fascinating video. Looking forward to the next one.
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.
Fabulous vid. Looking forward to the longer vids Tom.
One of your best videos!
Wow, thanks!
£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.
Oh my this was fantastic 😍 greetings from Dominican Republic 💙
what a great video, thanks for a longer video!
Great video, Tom. So very interesting. Can't imagine coming across that book in the ol' family library!
I so love your channel, Tom. Thank you.
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!
This content makes me want to sit down and watch more. Thanks!
Goose bumps watching this. Ive been a huge fan of the lord of the rings for as long as i can remember.
Tom's excitement is so contagious that I can't help but smile.
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!
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.
Incredible video! Hope to see more long form!
More to come!
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.
This was good. I really enjoyed it.
I absolutely love your channel
I can’t stop watching these videos!
This video is incredible. Absolutely love your passion!Finally the algorithm did something good!
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.
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
Your love for books is contagious!
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 😂
I’m considering getting a degree in rare books so your channel is so helpful! Keep at it!!
Thank you. As a bibliophile and fan of Tolkien was fascinated by this.
Your passion is infectious.
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.
350k seems like still a bargain ♡
My grandfather owns a numbered first edition first printing signed edition of Ulysses ...
Wonderful to see and hear, love books.
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.
I love the long form content.
I saw that episode and at the time it was seriously underprised even then
Look at the crowd gathering
only the popcorn is missing 😁
*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 TH-cam's commentariat where "armchair experts" shoe-horn mere opinion in place of **_inviolable facts.)_* 🏆
I'm pretty sure my dad had a copy with that cover many years ago. Unless my memory is playing tricks on me.
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
I have a first edition of the hobbit. Would be glad to share photos.
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.
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.
Absolutely brilliant!
I was surprised to observe that my 1995 hardback edition has the same dust jacket design as the original 1937 edition.
Brilliant video Tom but please speak closer to the mic - we can't hear you properly!
Great video! Your microphone kept cutting out when you lean back or hold a book between you and the microphone.
Thanking you
Awesome, than you.
I agree I would see no reason it wouldn’t fetch 350k, it’s the holy grail.
I was going to guess a quarter million.
make your volume a little louder. outside of that, it's perfect.
A magic piece of history
I remember watching that Roadshow episode and being surprised at the low figure for the book... but I'm certainly not a book collector.
The date (Sept 22nd) is also important for another reason... it's Bilbos birthday! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
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 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.
Remember, my school library having a dust cover exactly like that.
More long form vids pls
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 😂
September 22 is also Bilbo's birthday.
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
Buyer pays $300,000. Opens the book. "Hey, where's the letter to Auntie Jane??" "Oh, I put that in the recycling..."
it is worth what someone is willing to pay for it from someone who is willing to sell it.
Got same Book to
Sackville-Bagginses watching intently. =^p
I'm not so bad about the glue strip. It proofs letter and book are one entity.
OK, the appraiser in the video gets out one sentence (or half of one) and you, Mr. Ayling, give us a 2 or 3 (or 4) minute mini lecture on it. Every single sentence he utters. Perhaps you are simply carried away with excitement about this wonderful book? I stuck with you, and learned a few things, though. Keep it up, and practice the mantra, "Less is more, less is more......."
"The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do." Thomas Jefferson
"The more you say, the less people remember." Francois Fenelon"
"Brevity is a great charm of eloquence." Marcus Tullius Cicero
begging the question = assume as true the very proposition you're trying to prove.
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.
Goring's estate could purchase the book
The Hobbit...never heard of 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!
why do you look like Sméagol
Ever shayn on antiques raydshay 😅
Brother needs to find something to do with his hands?
What mein kampf doesn't make the list 😮
Am i the only one who's never heard it called a dust wrapper before? Dust jacket right? I am English too 😂
both terms are common
Wait, so what is it worth?????
Well my thought are, if it was Tolkien himself that taped that letter to the book, his fingerprints might be on it, and if there is DNA stuck to it. . .maybe we can clone him 🙂
All you need is a healthy ovum!
If it's 90 percent for the sleeve your not collecting books. Sad