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The Hobbit - or, There and Back Again

The Hobbit - or, There and Back Again

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The Hobbit - or, There and Back Again

by J.R.R. Tolkien

  • Used
  • fair
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Fair
Seller
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Hudson, New Hampshire, United States
Item Price
£15,987.62
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About This Item

This is the rare, true first printing of "THE HOBBIT - or, There and Back Again" by J.R.R. Tolkien. 1937 1st edition, 1st printing (with "First Published in 1937" stated on the copyright page and no subsequent printings listed); George Allen & Unwin Ltd.; London. All illustrations are present as called for, and are firmly attached. The frontispiece and all illustrations are in black & white. "Thror's Map" and "Map of Winderland" are in color on the end papers. Exceedingly rare with only 1,500 copies printed. Additional photos can be provided upon request. Condition: Light soiling to covers and spine. Strip of cloth missing at center-left edge of spine. The center-right strip and the remainder of the spine below it are loose and attached at the right edge only. Small cloth tears at outer front cover corners; tiny cloth tear at bottom-left corner of back cover. Small cloth tear/piece missing at the top-left corner of the spine. No cracks and no loose pages. The front cover is a bit shaky. Pages 269/270 and 271/272 have been removed. A name "Jilland Jeremy" written in pencil at the bottom of page 207. Pages 207-210 and the illustration after page 146 have light staining along the top and outer edges. Page 47 has a small stain and 1/2" tear at the outer edge. The pages are generally clean with an occasional smudge, stain and foxing spot here and there (most notably to some random pages between 1 and 20). There is a very light "waviness" to the pages. Bookplate affixed to half title page. Light tanning to the end paper maps. Overall in Fair condition.

Synopsis

The Hobbit tells the famous story of Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit who is caught up in the affairs of wizards. His journey through Mirkwood and the climactic confrontation with the dragon Smaug served as the launching point for Tolkien's transformative trilogy, The Lord of the Rings. Many of the essential elements of Tolkien's classic saga have their roots in this children's book. The story remains popular, and stands as one of the most enduring (and endearing) stories of the last century. The Hobbit sparked a creative explosion in speculative fiction, a fire that burns brightly to this day. The revival in interest in recent years, in part due to the popularity of the film series inspired by Tolkien's books only shows the timelessness of his story, and the importance of his work.

Read More: Identifying first editions of The Hobbit - or, There and Back Again

Reviews

On Mar 18 2022, a reader said:
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again (but nobody really calls it that anyway), a tale written some time ago by some J. R. R. Tolkien fella, is the story of a Hobbit who indeed goes there... and back again. You see, in the going of there, preceding the coming back again to the place he was before he went there, he came across many an interesting thing in the wild lands to the east (As well as the less wild lands to the west of the East, known to some as the West. There was also some northward travel, but we won't get into that in this review, or the next review for that matter, as the next review will likely have nothing to do with this review, making stories of the northward travels of hobbits of no use, but I digress. Back to the list I was about to list.), such as dwarves, trolls, goblins, a neat ring that most likely will serve no real importance in future adventures by Tolkien, wargs, eagles, a bear dude named Beorn, spiders, elves, some other guys, a dragon, a thrush, some ravens, some rocks, I guess, a wizard, various waters, treasure, glorious gemstone, and some other things that I don't care to recall. Anyway, the story is about Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit who does some stuff and goes somewhere (an unusual thing for a Hobbit, apparently, despite the number of books and movies and erotic fanfics based on the adventures of various Hobbits). Most importantly though, the book comes fully equip with two maps! TWO! Not one, not three, but TWO! Of course, I was reading the 70th anniversary edition, bought from www.biblio.com (sign up today!), so the number of maps may vary, depending on whether or not you're reading a library edition that has had numerous pages unceremoniously removed by children. Though, this version has the maps on the back of the front cover and front of the back cover (or would that be the back of the back cover?), making it a lot harder for me/children to rip them from the book to store in my/their stolen map collection. I figure this is enough for a review, so I'll stop rambling now. But I must insist the few of you who haven't read this book stop not having read this book and read this book! I read it and I have a (self-proclaimed) mental disorder (that I take lots and lots of sexy sounding medication for, much of which isn't legal or medication at all).
On Apr 1 2013, Fireflower537 said:
This book has one huge major flaw: There are NO female characters. I am guessing all the ladies are in Upper Earth and Lower Earth.

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Details

Bookseller
CraigsClassics US (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #
6939
Title
The Hobbit - or, There and Back Again
Author
J.R.R. Tolkien
Illustrator
J.R.R. Tolkien
Format/Binding
Hardcover
Book Condition
Used - Fair
Quantity Available
1
Edition
1st Edition, 1st Printing
Publisher
George Allen & Unwin Ltd.
Place of Publication
London
Date Published
1937
Weight
0.00 lbs
Keywords
jrr tolkien, silmarillion, hobbit, two towers, tom bombadil, return of the king, beren luthien, unfinished tales, children hurin, fellowship ring, fall gondolin, book lost tales, smith wootton, father christmas, farmer giles ham, tree leaf, roverandom, ta
Bookseller catalogs
Literature / Fiction; Sci-Fi / Fantasy;

Terms of Sale

CraigsClassics

30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.

About the Seller

CraigsClassics

Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Biblio member since 2018
Hudson, New Hampshire

About CraigsClassics

My store offers a curated selection of antiquarian books in a variety of topics with an emphasis on classic literature and children's classics. I take pride in providing great customer service with prompt replies to offers and inquiries, careful packaging and next-day shipping. Based in scenic southern New Hampshire.

Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Half Title
The blank front page which appears just prior to the title page, and typically contains only the title of the book, although, at...
Spine
The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
Copyright page
The page in a book that describes the lineage of that book, typically including the book's author, publisher, date of...
Fair
is a worn book that has complete text pages (including those with maps or plates) but may lack endpapers, half-title, etc....
Edges
The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
Title Page
A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
Remainder
Book(s) which are sold at a very deep discount to alleviate publisher overstock. Often, though not always, they have a remainder...
Bookplate
Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
Cloth
"Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...

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