As It Happens Precious 1st-edition of The Hobbit found amid reference books and children's tomes

In a find that would be worthy of a place among Smaug's pile of gold and jewels underneath the Lonely Mountain, a rare book specialist has found a first-edition copy of by J.R.R. Tolkien.

"It's such a monumental piece of fantasy history. It's one of the Holy Grails of book collecting," Caitlin Riley told guest host Rebecca Zandbergen.

The relic was found, not in a dragon's lair, but amid reference books and tattered children's tomes at a house clearance sale.

And while over 100 million copies of the book have sold since it was published in 1937, only 1,500 first-edition copies were printed. Since it's a children's book, many copies are battered and worn, with few still possessing their

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