TOLKIEN, J[ohn] R[onald] R[ueul]. The Hobbit. Or There and Back Again. Illustrated by the Author. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company (1968). 12mo, 319pp. Green cloth pictorially stamped in black. 2 double-page b&w pictorial maps, 6 full-page and one smaller b&w illustrations. Slight dent at top edge of front cover, corners a tad rubbed, faint damp-stain at heel of spine extending about an inch on to bottom of front and rear covers, spine a tad sunned, in the original color pictorial dust jacket (a few small chips along edges – mostly at spine ends, some other edge wear and a couple of small tears, spine panel sunned and darkened, evidence of damp-stain apparent on verso of jacket; price clipped).

 

Third US edition, 2^nd impression, incorporating numerous corrections (and some new errors) as per the Hammond/Anderson bibliography. For nearly 90 years, readers young and old have been introduced to Middle Earth and hobbits through the wonderful adventures of Bilbo Baggins as he accompanies 13 dwarves to help them reclaim their home from a fearsome dragon.