J. R. R. Tolkien - The Hobbit - 1937 UK 1st / 1st HB in DJ - association copy

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J. R. R. Tolkien - The Hobbit - 1937 UK 1st / 1st HB in DJ - association copy:
$35147.00

J. R. R. Tolkien - The Hobbit - 1937first edition published byGeorge Allen & Unwin.

An association copy, with an inscription reading: \"B. and D. + D & M from Aunt Jane.\". \"Aunt Jane\" is Emily Jane Suffield, who acted as go-between for Tolkien\'s parents during their courtship. From 1923 she lived in a farm at Dormston in Worcestershire, situated at the end of a lane, which the locals referred to as \"Bag End\". Jane was also instrumental in the creation of another of Tolkien\'s works, asking him in 1961 to write a story about Tom Bombadil, which resulted in \"The Adventures of Tom Bombadil\". The inscribees are Bertram and Dorothy Stone and their two sons, who also regarded Jane as their aunt. Beneath the inscription is a date in pencil, 1946; written in a different hand it is presumably a note of the year in which the book was given to them by Aunt Jane. Further to this there is a faint pencil note to the rear flap of the dust jacket, which seems to be a reference to the secret back door of the Lonely Mountain.
The book is firmly bound in slightly bumped, rubbed and marked green cloth, lettered and illustrated in black, there is some minor restoration to the spine ends. The text block is slightly toned, with minor staining.
The dust jacket is the original and not price clipped, with the correction to \"Dodgson\" on the rear flap, approximately 2/3 of the spine was missing, what remained was in danger of parting company from the rest and there was a portion of the rear panel missing, otherwise the colour was strong, with only minor toning. It has been sympathetically restored by leading paper conservator Richard Reeve, the extent of the restoration is visible to the reverse of the jacket, and before and after photographs have been provided as a record of the work.
The book is nicely preserved and presented in a custom made, velvet lined box.