J.R.R. Tolkien - The Hobbit - 1st Edition 1st Printing - 1937

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J.R.R. Tolkien - The Hobbit - 1st Edition 1st Printing - 1937:
$10000.00

JRR Tolkien - The Hobbit - First EditionJ.R.R. Tolkien - The Hobbit, First Edition, First Impression, 1937, London: George Allen & Unwin, Ltd. 8vo, green decorated cloth binding, map endpapers, illustrations by the author, 301 pages. A very good copy of one of the most popular works of fiction in the last 100 years. Much better than usually encountered, this is one of the 1500 original first edition copies printed. Green cloth boards are in beautiful condition, and internally the book is unmarked. Slightly cocked. Lots of photos below. Truly a collectors copy. Tolkien wrote the first line of The Hobbit, \"In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit,\" on a blank sheet while correcting exam papers in school. After several years of development (in which Tolkien would tell parts of the story to his children), the book was submitted to publisher Allen & Unwin, Ltd in 1936. Chairman Stanley Unwin greenlighted the project on the advice of his ten-year-old son, Rayner, who wrote, \"It is good and should appeal to all children between the ages of five and nine.\" Released on September 21, 1937 in a limited edition of 1,500 copies, the book sold out completely in a mere three months and has been in print ever since. Of particular interest to collectors are the differences between the first edition of this work and subsequent editions. A compulsive rewriter, Tolkien was rarely satisfied with his work, and often went back and revised passages. One of the more well-known examples of the \"niggling\", as Tolkien called it, is in the Riddle Game played between Bilbo and Gollum, which is markedly different in the first edition. As Tolkien worked on The Lord of The Rings, he found it necessary to make certain alterations in his earlier work, to bring the Hobbit more clearly in line with his later, more mature, vision. Therefore, Gollum becomes a decidedly more evil creature in later versions, and the stakes of the Riddle Game are different (in the familiar version, Gollum offers to lead Bilbo to safety if the Hobbit wins the game; in the first version, Bilbo is offered \"a present\" should he prevail).Free shipping with insurance. Paypal only