GUEST: I brought you a copy of The Hobbit that happens to be signed. This was a gift from a professor to my wife at the University of St. Thomas in Houston. I know it's a book that she treasures.
APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.
GUEST: Um, mostly because of the relationship she had with the professor. She belonged to a philosophy club when she was going to college, and he was the mentor, and had a good relationship, so...
APPRAISER: Okay. Mm-hmm.
GUEST: She was gifted the book. And when was the... The late '60s.
APPRAISER: In the late '60s she got the book, okay. Have you read this?
GUEST: We didn't read this book. We read other copies.
APPRAISER: Uh-huh, that was a brilliant move, that you actually preserved the book, because it is in absolutely stunning condition.
GUEST: Oh, fantastic.
APPRAISER: I see a lot of first editions, and it is just a rare, wonderful occasion to see a book of this magnitude in, in a dust jacket that is so well-preserved. We've presented the jacket so we can see both front and back panels, the spine panel, and the flaps, and the only wear that you see are few little chips along the spine edge and along the joins, where the joins meet the edge. First editions are usually valuable when they have their original dust jacket, especially from that time period. The book was published in 1937, and what would many times happen is that a dust jacket is torn, gets discarded, so that's why only a very few dust jackets of the books survive, and none of them survive in this kind of condition. It is a first-issue dust jacket. Collectors are very particular about that. And you can tell by a little correction that the publisher did in a name on the back flap.
GUEST: Hm,okay.
APPRAISER: And then the little extra treasure that the book has is the actual signature of Tolkien on what is called the, the half title. The package, to have a first edition, a first-edition, first-issue dust jacket, and his signature, is just, it cannot get any better. Do you have an idea of what kind of value we're looking at?
GUEST: I, I don't know.
APPRAISER: So you've never gotten it appraised or...
GUEST: No, it's never been appraised.
APPRAISER: The estimate at auction would be $80,000 to $120,000 for the book.
GUEST: Oh, fantastic, wow.
APPRAISER: It's one of a kind. And so the sky might be the limit for, for this copy.
GUEST: Oh, right. Just an absolute-- you, you made my day, essentially. (chuckles) Thank you.
