First American edition, first state, with the bowing hobbit on the title page, in a supplied first-edition dust jacket.
Publisher and Year: Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1938
Edition: First American edition, first state, with the bowing hobbit on the title page (changed to a seated flautist in the second state), in a supplied first-edition dust jacket priced $2.50 on the front flap. Although the presence of the bowing hobbit is the sole issue point needed to identify the first state, there are several other notable features of these copies, including the absence of a half-title page (added in the second state), Thror's map erroneously noted as located at the front in the list of illustrations (corrected in the second state), and Chapter VII mistakenly titled Chapter VI (fixed in the third state). Compared to the first British edition that was issued five months earlier, the first American edition used a different cover design and was issued in a larger format, printed on heavier paper, and included four color plates by Tolkien. (Hammond & Anderson A3b; Frisby 2009)
Condition and Description: Octavo, 8.25” x 6”, tan cloth stamped in blue and red, 310 pp. Endpaper maps printed in red. Includes thirteen illustrations designed by Tolkien, of which four are in color (including the frontispiece). A sharp example of the book, with secure hinges and binding, minimal handling wear, and light soiling and a couple of small stains to the cloth. Clean pages with no prior ownership markings. Dust jacket with notable surface and edge wear; chips; loss of most of the “By” on the front panel; and tears secured on the verso with a few discreet and reversible tissue reinforcements (closeups provided). Housed in archival mylar and a full leather clamshell case stamped in gilt.
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”
The Hobbit established the blueprint for modern high fantasy. Upon publication, few would have suspected that the novel would have such a profound impact on literature. Seventeen years later, Tolkien published the first volume of The Lord of the Rings, another watershed moment in the genre.
Inventory ID: 831 - 086 - 042
First American edition, first state, with the bowing hobbit on the title page, in a supplied first-edition dust jacket.
Publisher and Year: Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1938
Edition: First American edition, first state, with the bowing hobbit on the title page (changed to a seated flautist in the second state), in a supplied first-edition dust jacket priced $2.50 on the front flap. Although the presence of the bowing hobbit is the sole issue point needed to identify the first state, there are several other notable features of these copies, including the absence of a half-title page (added in the second state), Thror's map erroneously noted as located at the front in the list of illustrations (corrected in the second state), and Chapter VII mistakenly titled Chapter VI (fixed in the third state). Compared to the first British edition that was issued five months earlier, the first American edition used a different cover design and was issued in a larger format, printed on heavier paper, and included four color plates by Tolkien. (Hammond & Anderson A3b; Frisby 2009)
Condition and Description: Octavo, 8.25” x 6”, tan cloth stamped in blue and red, 310 pp. Endpaper maps printed in red. Includes thirteen illustrations designed by Tolkien, of which four are in color (including the frontispiece). A sharp example of the book, with secure hinges and binding, minimal handling wear, and light soiling and a couple of small stains to the cloth. Clean pages with no prior ownership markings. Dust jacket with notable surface and edge wear; chips; loss of most of the “By” on the front panel; and tears secured on the verso with a few discreet and reversible tissue reinforcements (closeups provided). Housed in archival mylar and a full leather clamshell case stamped in gilt.
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”
The Hobbit established the blueprint for modern high fantasy. Upon publication, few would have suspected that the novel would have such a profound impact on literature. Seventeen years later, Tolkien published the first volume of The Lord of the Rings, another watershed moment in the genre.
Inventory ID: 831 - 086 - 042
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