The Hobbit first edition found in charity shop sells for £10,000

A charity has earned £10,000 from a rare copy of The Hobbit found among donations at a shop in Dundee.

Cancer Research UK said the first edition of the classic fantasy novel was found in the back room of its superstore in the city.

Published in 1937, it is one of 1,500 copies from the original run that features black and white illustrations by author JRR Tolkien.

The charity said the novel fetched £10,099 in a sale on eBay last year.

The acclaimed children's book, which follows the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, was found by Cancer Research shop manager, Adam Carsley.

He said he initially thought that the "well looked after" copy might not be sellable on the shop floor because of its condition.

Mr Carsley had been at the Dundee superstore to assist with staff training and the organisation of stock.

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 may be worthy of sending to the eBay team.

"I thought we'd get a maximum of £500 if we were lucky, so I couldn't believe it when I heard a few months later it had sold for over £10,000."

In 2015, a first edition of The Hobbit, with an inscription in Elvish written by Tolkien, sold at auction in London for £137,000.

It smashed the previous record for a sale of The Hobbit, set in 2008 when a first edition sold for £60,000.

Mr Carsley continued: "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."