Texas A&M University receives rare first edition copy of 'The Hobbit' from George R.R. Martin

Smaug looks thinner than expected.

Over the years, Texas A&M University has developed one of the finest collection of books in the world. From Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote de la Mancha, parts I and II, dating from 1617, to Walt Whitman's 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass, the university has made a way of celebrating every new millionth book added to its collection.

Now, George R.R. Martin has donated a rare first edition of J.R.R Tolkien's The Hobbit, one of only 1,500 copies ever published, to celebrate A&M's five-millionth book.

In a speech commemorating the donation, Martin stressed the need for libraries and preservation. "The stories that we tell each other, the stories that we grow up on, the stories that help shape our values and shape our lives, we still love and remember," he said. "This is the stuff that should be preserved.”



There's waaaaay too many Rs going on in the names here.