A horrid Hobbit and a glimpse of London shadows and swamps
The estimate of £25-35 placed on a second impression copy of Tolkien’s The Hobbit was a reflection of its condition – “deplorable” being the cataloguer’s chosen epithet. There was no jacket and 20-30 leaves had been torn loose, one of which had been further torn into four (now three) pieces.
There are those who might wonder why it was in the catalogue at all, but three telephone bidders wer…