The Hobbit. Art by István Hári
Book collectors have been known to spend big money on their hobby, and recently a first edition of John James Audubon’s illustrated Birds of America sold at auction for $7.9 million. Some books are considered valuable because they’re somehow rare, or perhaps they’re autographed. So why does this copy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit cost €900 (approximately $1,100)?
Because it’s handwritten.
When I think of a handwritten edition of The Hobbit, my first thought is of dwarves hard at work at their desks, the sound of their pens scratching on paper echoing through the halls of Moria. In reality, it was painstakingly calligraphed by artist István Hári.
The result is a new book that looks timeworn and, dare I say it, precious.
According to The Tolkien Library, this leather-and-copper book,
contains the full text of the original tale with paintings (the Hobbiton across-the-water, the Lord of the Eagles, the Bilbo comes to the Raft-elves, the Conversation with Smaug) & drawings ( the Trolls, the Mountain-path, The Misty Mountains looking West, The Elvenking’s Gate, the Lake Town, The Front Gate, The Hall at Bag-End) made by Mr. Tolkien – and remade by the “writer”.
This is actually Hári’s second venture in Tolkien calligraphy. In 2005, he created “Tales of Middle Earth,” a tome that included The Hobbit plus all three books of Lord of the Rings. It took Hári three years to complete it, and it will set you back almost $3,000 (€2,200).
Note that these books sold are copies, and a limited edition of them are available at The Tolkien Library.
The originals, presumably, are locked away, guarded by those dwarves in Moria.
(Thanks to Esther Schindler.)