The magic of the Hobbit still works as much and brings in £10,000 for a charity center

Almost 100 years after their creation, Gandalf and Bilbo are still at the origin of a great adventure. In Dundee, north of Edinburgh in Scotland, a charity shop manager stumbled upon one of 1,500 copies of the original edition of The Hobbit. The 1937 relic later sold for £10,099 on eBay.

The fairy tale played out a few months ago, shortly before the opening of the Cancer Research UK store in Dundee. Facility manager Adam Carsley had come to work earlier to help train new managers and organize inventory. While tidying up the hundreds of books in the back room, the Briton came across the extremely rare book featuring black and white illustrations by J.R. Tolkien himself.

"I opened the front page to see it was a first edition and thought it might be worth sending to the eBay team," he said. told PA Media. I thought we'd get a maximum of £500 if we were lucky, so I couldn't believe it when I learned a few months later that it had sold for over £10,000. »

Cancer Research UK shops are not-for-profit supermarkets selling second-hand and donated items such as books, clothes and household items. All items are sold under £5. The group has an eBay account allowing them to sell exceptional objects at higher prices. All profits are then donated to research and the fight against cancer.