A rare first edition of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" was expected to sell for thousands of pounds on Wednesday after it was found during a house clearance in southwest England. The book is one of 1,500 original copies of the British author's seminal fantasy novel that were published in 1937.

The book was discovered by chance in a house in Bristol. It is one of 1,500 original copies of Tolkien’s famous 1937 novel.View on euronews

An "astonishingly rare" first edition of The Hobbit has sold for a "record-breaking" £43,000 at auction. The copy of JRR Tolkien's novel is one of only 1,500 copies that were printed in 1937. It was discovered without a dustcover on a bookcase during a home clearance in Bristol.