The Hobbit (or There and Back Hardcover - 1973

The Hobbit tells the famous story of Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit who is caught up in the affairs of wizards. His journey through Mirkwood and the climactic confrontation with the dragon Smaug served as the launching point for Tolkien's transformative trilogy, The Lord of the Rings. Many of the essential elements of Tolkien's classic saga have their roots in this children's book.

The story remains popular, and stands as one of the most enduring (and endearing) stories of the last century. The Hobbit sparked a creative explosion in speculative fiction, a fire that burns brightly to this day. The revival in interest in recent years, in part due to the popularity of the film series inspired by Tolkien's books only shows the timelessness of his story, and the importance of his work.

This deluxe collector’s edition of Tolkien’s modern classic is boxed and bound in green leatherette with gold and red foil rune stamping on the spine and cover. The text pages are printed in black with green accents. It includes five full page illustrations in full color and many more in two color in addition to Thror’s map -- all prepared by the author. J.R.R. Tolkien’s own description for the original edition: “If you care for journeys there and back, out of the comfortable Western world, over the edge of the Wild, and home again, and can take an interest in a humble hero (blessed with a little wisdom and a little courage and considerable good luck), here is a record of such a journey and such a traveler. The period is the ancient time between the age of Faerie and the dominion of men, when the famous forest of Mirkwood was still standing, and the mountains were full of danger. In following the path of this humble adventurer, you will learn by the way (as he did) -- if you do not already know all about these things -- much about trolls, goblins, dwarves, and elves, and get some glimpses into the history and politics of a neglected but important period. For Mr. Bilbo Baggins visited various notable persons; conversed with the dragon, Smaug the Magnificent; and was present, rather unwillingly, at the Battle of the Five Armies. This is all the more remarkable, since he was a hobbit. Hobbits have hitherto been passed over in history and legend, perhaps because they as a rule preferred comfort to excitement. But this account, based on his personal memoirs, of the one exciting year in the otherwise quiet life of Mr. Baggins will give you a fair idea of the estimable people now (it is said) becoming rather rare. They do not like noise.”

The first impression of the first edition ran as a limited printing of 1500 copies, published by George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1937. Authentic copies with the dust jacket will include a well known hand correction, in black ink, of a misspelling of the last name of Reverend Charles Dodgson (better known as Lewis Carroll) on the back flap. A first edition, first printing of the original U.K. edition can run over $40,000. Signed copies of this edition have been appraised at over $100,000 U.S. Later printings of the first edition also retain much value for collectors. The first U.S. Edition, printed in 1938 by Houghton Mifflin Company, is prized and is commonly sold to collectors at prices well over $2,000. Chips to the cover, a missing dustcover, wear to the spine, and damage to the map in the endpaper, are some of the more common flaws for this book.