The Hobbit First Edition Found In Charity Shop Sells For 10,000 Pounds

A rare 'The Hobbit' book found in a charity shop in Dundee was sold for over 10,000 pounds. The first edition copy of JRR Tolkien's book made 10,099 in an eBay auction last year, Cancer Research UK said.

The rare book of Bilbo Baggins' tale was found by Cancer Research shop manager, Adam Carsley. According to a report by The Guardian, as the store only sells items for 5 pounds or less, the book was put up for sale on eBay and it made 10,099 pounds for the charity.

Published in 1937, the book is one of just 1,500 copies released in the original run and features black and white illustrations by Tolkien himself.

The manager, Mr Carsley told BBC that he came across the item among hundreds of other books in the backroom. He said, "I opened the first page to see it was a first edition and thought it might be worthy of sending to the eBay team. I thought we'd get a maximum of 500 pounds if we were lucky, so I couldn't believe it when I heard a few months later it had sold for over 10,000 pounds."

Mr Carsley further said, "To my knowledge, this is one the most valuable items donated to one of our stores. Most definitely the highest price achieved on our eBay site for a single item. Donations like these help to fund lifesaving research across the whole of the UK."

According to the media portal, in 2015, the first edition of The Hobbit was sold at auction in London for 137,000 pounds.