A first edition of JRR Tolkien’s 1937 novel The Hobbit, with an inscription in Elvish written by the author, sold at auction in London for £137,000.
The sale smashes the previous record for a sale of The Hobbit, set in 2008 when a first edition sold for £60,000.
Tolkien gave the book to Katherine “Kitty” Kilbride, one of his students at Leeds University in the 1920s.
The Hobbit introduced the character of Bilbo Baggins and the “one ring” that would feature again in his Lord of the Rings trilogy.
