Publication The Hobbit

dustcover of first edition of hobbit, taken design author

george allen & unwin ltd. of london published first edition of hobbit on 21 september 1937 print run of 1,500 copies, sold out december because of enthusiastic reviews. first printing illustrated in black , white tolkien, designed dust jacket well. houghton mifflin of boston , new york reset type american edition, released in 1938, in 4 of illustrations colour plates. allen & unwin decided incorporate colour illustrations second printing, released @ end of 1937. despite book s popularity, paper rationing brought on wartime conditions , not ending until 1949 meant allen & unwin edition of book unavailable during period.

subsequent editions in english published in 1951, 1966, 1978 , 1995. novel has been reprinted many publishers. in addition, hobbit has been translated on forty languages, more 1 published version languages.

revisions

in december 1937, hobbit s publisher, stanley unwin, asked tolkien sequel. in response tolkien provided drafts silmarillion, editors rejected them, believing public wanted more hobbits . tolkien subsequently began work on new hobbit, become lord of rings, course not change context of original story, lead substantial changes character of gollum.

in first edition of hobbit, gollum willingly bets magic ring on outcome of riddle-game, , , bilbo part amicably. in second edition edits, reflect new concept of ring , corrupting abilities, tolkien made gollum more aggressive towards bilbo , distraught @ losing ring. encounter ends gollum s curse, thief! thief, thief, baggins! hates it, hates it, hates forever! presages gollum s portrayal in lord of rings.

tolkien sent revised version of chapter riddles in dark unwin example of kinds of changes needed bring book conformity lord of rings, heard nothing years. when sent galley proofs of new edition, tolkien surprised find sample text had been incorporated. in lord of rings, original version of riddle game explained lie made bilbo under harmful influence of ring, whereas revised version contains true account. revised text became second edition, published in 1951 in both uk , us.

tolkien began new version in 1960, attempting adjust tone of hobbit sequel. abandoned new revision @ chapter 3 after received criticism wasn t hobbit , implying had lost of light-hearted tone , quick pace.

after unauthorized paperback edition of lord of rings appeared ace books in 1965, houghton mifflin , ballantine asked tolkien refresh text of hobbit renew copyright. text became 1966 third edition. tolkien took opportunity align narrative more closely lord of rings , cosmological developments still unpublished quenta silmarillion stood @ time. these small edits included, example, changing phrase elves called gnomes first , second editions on page 63, high elves of west, kin in third edition. tolkien had used gnome in earlier writing refer second kindred of high elves—the noldor (or deep elves )—thinking gnome , derived greek gnosis (knowledge), name wisest of elves. however, because of common denotation of garden gnome, derived 16th-century paracelsus, tolkien abandoned term.

posthumous editions

since author s death, 2 editions of hobbit have been published commentary on creation, emendation , development of text. in annotated hobbit douglas anderson provides entire text of published book, alongside commentary , illustrations. later editions added text of quest of erebor. anderson s commentary shows many of sources tolkien brought in preparing text, , chronicles in detail changes tolkien made various published editions. alongside annotations, text illustrated pictures many of translated editions, including images tove jansson. edition presents number of little-known texts such 1923 version of tolkien s poem iumonna gold galdre bewunden .

with history of hobbit, published in 2 parts in 2007, john d. rateliff provides full text of earliest , intermediary drafts of book, alongside commentary shows relationships tolkien s scholarly , creative works, both contemporary , later. rateliff provides abandoned 1960s retelling , unpublished illustrations tolkien. book keeps rateliff s commentary separate tolkien s text, allowing reader read original drafts self-contained stories.