My copies of “The Hobbit”
This is one of the jewels of my collection. It is a true First Edition, First Printing of the green, with slip cover, deluxe edition of The Hobbit. It is distinguished from later printings by a typographical error on the cover and by the copyright page. It is in mint, unread condition. Note the second rune from the bottom on the right hand side on the close up of the cover of the book. This is an “A” rune . This is very similar to the “O” rune, but doesn’t have the two upward strokes of the “O” rune. The three runes at the bottom of the right hand side and the first five running from right to left (upside down) along the bottom of the cover incorrectly spell “campiled”. This mistake was found and corrected during later First Edition printings.
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The green, with slip cover, deluxe edition above is a First Edition copy, is in perfect shape, and is unread. Printed in 1973. This is a slightly later printing (I think a Third Printing, but am not sure). It’s distinguished from later printings by the green speckels on the outside of the pages and the copyright page. This particular version has the spelling error on the front cover corrected. Note the second rune from the bottom on the right hand side on the close up of the cover of the book. This is an “O” rune . This is very similar to the “A” rune, but has the two upward strokes not contained in the “A” rune. The three runes at the bottom of the right hand side and the first five running from right to left (upside down) along the bottom of the cover correctly spell “compiled”.
Here is a copy of the 50th Anniversary of The Hobbit (Deluxe Gold Cover Edition with slipcase). This isn’t really my favorite copy of this book (The Green Cover Edition, First Printing with slipcase is), but it’s part of my collection so I’m adding it.
This is my copy of the Harper Collins Deluxe Edition published in the U.K. It’s a beautiful looking book. I like the drawing of Smaug on the cover and it is illustrated by Tolkien’s own drawings (which are my favorites of course). An interesting note; there is a drawing in this book which was on the cover of an older paperback edition of “The Two Towers”. I think they put it in there because Treebeard (Fangorn) was in the book. In actuality, this is a drawing of Beleg Cuthalion (Beleg Strongbow) finding the elf Gwindor in the forest of Tar-Nu-Fuin (Forest under Nightshade) while he was searching for Túrin Turambar, son of Húrin Thalion (Húrin the strong). While my favorite copies that I own are the first edition books published in 1973, I love the pictures and maps drawn by Professor Tolkien.
This is the Easton Press Edition of The Hobbit. It is a leather bound copy with 22 carat gold trim and printing. The books by Easton are among the best put together of Professor Tolkien’s works. It has never been opened and is still in the original sealing from the factory.