Nov 29, 2007 - Sale 2130

Sale 2130 - Lot 278

Price Realized: $ 13,200
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 8,000 - $ 12,000
CELEBRATING ITS 70TH YEAR TOLKIEN, J. R. R. The Hobbit or There and Back Again. Frontispiece and 9 other illustrations in black and white by Tolkien. 8vo, original green cloth, titles and pictorial decoration to spine and both boards in blue, cocked, some rubbing with slight surface loss at foot of spine, slight toning to edges; Thror's Map and Wilderland maps on endpapers, top edge stained green but faded; Tolkien-designed pictorial dust jacket, 1/2-inch chip at head of spine panel, creeping and widening to an inch at rear panel, 1/4-inch chip at foot, 1/2-inch chip at lower right corner of front panel, other short tears, most clean, some with residual chips; owner's inked inscription on front blank and signature on front map. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1937

Additional Details

first edition, first impression. first issue dust jacket with the ink strikethrough of the "e" in the misspelt "Dodgeson" on rear flap. The Hobbit was first conceived by Tolkien as a story to tell his children in 1926. He began writing the book in the late twenties to alleviate the boredom of correcting school papers. Only 1500 copies of the first edition were printed all of which were sold within a couple of months. Hammond and Anderson A3.