Rare first edition of The Hobbit sells for record £137,000

A rare first edition of The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien has fetched a record price at auction today.

The book, which includes a handwritten dedication by the author to a student in Elvish, sold for £137,000 - almost trebling the £50,000 the last most expensive copy sold for in 2008, and smashing its £70,000 guide price.

The book, said to be in excellent condition, went under the hammer at Sotheby's in London, and was originally given to Kitty Kilbride, one of his first students at Leeds University in the 1920s.

It includes the inscription in Elvish - the language created by Tolkien and used by some of his characters in the world of Middle Earth where he set his fantasy tales.

Kitty Kilbride, who remained friendly with the author up until her death in 1966, was, recalled her nephew, "...an invalid all her life and was much cheered by his [Tolkien's] chatty letters and cards. ...books were given to her as they were published".

Her copy of the Lord of the Rings, also given to her by Tolkien, was sold in 1982.