The Thirty-Nine Steps, The Hobbit, and William Jevons Letter: The Week in Rare Books

This weekly auction result is provided by Spencer W Stuart, an independent collections advisor specializing in rare books and manuscripts as well as fine photography and prints. He is also the author of Contemporary Issues in Rare Books & Manuscript Collecting and host of the monthly webinar Collecting Insights.

These are the three lots that stuck out this week because of either uniqueness or exceeding expectations:

* A signed presentation copy of The Thirty-Nine Steps

A first edition/printing (Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons, 1915) of former Governor-General of Canada John Buchan's popular thriller signed at front free endpaper "L. A. Alcock [Mrs. Killick] from John Buchan Oct: 1915". From the collection of Lillian Killick (née Alcock), Buchan’s private and literary secretary for many years, including during his time in Canada, the vendor’s paternal great-aunt. Sold for £7,000.

* The Hobbit in first issue dust jacket

First edition of The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien in an unrestored first issue dust-jacket (London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1937) with "Dodgson" corrected in ink on the rear flap and printed bookplate designed by Winifred Bromhall to half-title (space for owner's name has been left blank). Sold at Christie's for $217,600 following an estimate of $80,000.

* Letter from William Jevons to a fellow economist

A May 12, 1874, seven-page letter by groundbreaking economist and logician William Stanley Jevons on economics addressed to Professor Léon Walras. Jevons thanks Walras for his letter and his paper Principles of a Mathematical Theory of Exchange, and he is delighted that his “theory of exchange” which had been overlooked and criticized upon its publication in England is now confirmed by Walras. Sold at Ader for €18,463 following an estimate of €1000-€1500.