HOBBIT mania is set to hit the heights in a Salisbury sale room as well as at the Oscars next week.
Rare first editions of JRR Tolkien's fantasy novels The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings will come under the hammer at Salisbury auction house Woolley & Wallis on Wednesday, just three days after the Oscars are announced in Los Angeles, where the film version of Lord of the Rings has been nominated for 13 awards.
With Tolkien fever at its height, the Salisbury auction house is expecting international bidding for the cult books, with a Lord of the Rings trilogy expected to fetch £8,000-£10,000 and a first edition of The Hobbit likely to make £4,000-£5,000.
It is the first time that Woolley & Wallis has been consigned Tolkien first editions to sell, an event described as "extremely exciting" by the sale room's books expert, Bill Hoade.
The Salisbury firm is auctioning two first editions of Lord of the Rings trilogy, one first edition of The Hobbit and four other lots of Tolkien books, including one signed by the author. Together, they are likely to fetch £20,000.
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