A TREASURE trove of JRR Tolkien memorabilia fetched tens of thousands of pounds when it went under the hammer today.

Lots included the last-known photograph of the famous Oxford-based author.

The poignant photo, auctioned by Bonhams in London, was taken by the fantasy writer's grandson Michael, on August 9, 1973.

The auction also offered the ultimate prize for Tolkien fans - the 1937 first issue of the first edition of The Hobbit, inscribed by Tolkien to his friend Elaine Griffiths.

The book went over the phone to a private bidder for £60,000 - twice the pre-sale estimate and a world record for an inscribed copy of The Hobbit.

The photograph taken in Oxford, which went for £864 to a private bidder, shows the author in the Botanic Garden, leaning against his favourite tree - the Black Pine he named Laocoon.

Tolkien died three weeks later on September 2, 1973.

The photograph was a gift to Ms Griffiths, from his daughter Priscilla, who wrote on the back "For Elaine with love from Priscilla".

Bonhams spokesman Joy Asfar said: "It was an amazing auction.

"Everyone here is stunned that this copy of The Hobbit went for so much - it's a world record."

Tolkien wrote The Hobbit for his children, but Ms Griffiths thought so highly of the typescript that she suggested it should be read by Susan Dagnall at George Allen and Unwin, who then published the book for the first time.

It is illustrated with many black and white drawings penned by Tolkien himself.

The Hobbit is Tolkien's most successful book and is a prequel to the longer novel, The Lord of the Rings.

The story follows hobbit Bilbo Baggins in his perilous quest to reclaim treasures.

From the moment of publication, the book was an instant success with the 1,500 copies of the first edition selling out within a couple of months.

It has since sold over 100m copies and has been voted the most significant children's book of the 20th century by the Library Association.

Also included in the sale was the first foreign language edition of The Hobbit, translated into Swedish in 1947, again inscribed by Tolkien to Ms Griffiths. It sold for £1,560.

The Hobbit has since been translated into nearly 50 different languages and a movie version of the book is expected to follow the successful Rings cinema trilogy in 2010.