60 Great Books - 11 - Bauman Rare Books “In A Hole In The Ground There Lived A Hobbit”: Unrestored First Edition Of Tolkien’s Classic Fantasy 9. TOLKIEN, J.R.R. The Hobbit, or There and Back Again. London, 1937. Octavo, original light green cloth, dust jacket, custom clamshell box. $115,000. First edition, first printing, of the fantasy classic—“among the very highest achievements of children’s authors during the 20th century” (Carpenter & Pritchard, 530)—one of only 1500 copies printed, in unrestored dust jacket. “The outstanding British work of fantasy for children to appear between the two World Wars, and the first of a series of books which eventually brought Tolkien world-wide fame… All historians of children’s literature… agree in placing [The Hobbit] among the very highest achievements of children’s authors during the 20th century” (Carpenter & Prichard, 254, 530). “Professor Tolkien’s epic of Middle Earth was begun before the war, in The Hobbit. During and after the war he continued the story… [and] published it as a trilogy [The Lord of the Rings] from 1954 to 1955… [It is considered] one of this century’s lasting contributions to that borderland of literature between youth and age. There are few such books—Gulliver’s Travels, The Pilgrim’s Progress, Robinson Crusoe, Don Quixote, Alice inWonderland, TheWind in theWillows—what else?… [The Hobbit and its sequel, The Lord of the Rings, are] destined to become this century’s contribution to that select list of books which continue through the ages to be read by children and adults with almost equal pleasure” (Eyre, 67, 134-5). All of the book’s illustrations and decorations are by Tolkien: ten black-and-white pen drawings; two maps printed in red and black (appearing as the front and back endpapers); decorations to the cloth binding (mountains, moon, sun and dragon); and the dramatic four-color dust jacket illustration. Publisher’s correction by hand to rear flap of dust jacket. Hammond & Anderson A3a. Currey 385. Early owner signature and address notation. Book with minor darkening to edges of original cloth. Original very bright dust jacket entirely unrestored, with some chipping to spine ends and dust jacket corners. A very good copy of this exceptionally rare first edition. “A book full of adventure, heroism, song and laughter, featuring landscapes that are quintessentially English.”—Alan Lee
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