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English-language editions of The Hobbit

This list contains only complete, printed English-language editions of The Hobbit. It is not for derived or unprinted works such as screenplays, graphic novels, or audio books.

Table of contents
1 Criteria for Separate Editions
2 Criteria for Variants
3 Described English-language Editions
4 Other Known English-language Editions

Criteria for Separate Editions

For this list, a printing is a 'separate edition' if any of the following criteria is met:

Criteria for Variants

For this list, a printing is a 'variant' of a separate edition if it is not a separate edition and if any of the following criteria is met:

A printing is 'not' a separate edition or variant solely because of any of the following:

Described English-language Editions

  1. AU1937 &mdash George Allen & Unwin LTD of London, 1937 Light green cloth binding over boards, imprinted with stylized Misty Mountains scene in deep blue ink along the top, all the way around, and a dragon at the bottom, both front and back. Dust jacket in green, black, dark blue, and white, showing a drawing of stylized mountains with the moon and eagles soaring above, a forest, and a river. End paper maps in red, black, and white. All artwork by Tolkien. 14.0 x 19.6 cm, 310 numbered pages.

    a. Second printing converted four plates to color.

  2. HM1938 &mdash Houghton Mifflin Co. of Boston & New York, 1938. Tan cloth binding over boards, imprinted with a bowing hobbit in red to the upper right of the title on the front. Dust jacket in blue with the Hobbiton frontispiece in color in front. Title page shows outline of the same bowing hobbit as on the cover. All artwork by Tolkien. 15.1 x 21.0 cm, 310 numbered pages.

    a. Title page bowing hobbit insignia was changed to the publisher's device of a seated flautist sometime during the run.

    See     Identifying HMCo Editions of The Hobbit.

  3. AU1942 &mdash George Allen & Unwin LTD of London, 1942. Similar to AU1937 but smaller. Color plates have been removed except for the frontispiece. 13.0 x 19.0 cm, 310 numbered pages.

  4. CB1942 &mdash The Children's Book Club of London, 1942. Same sheets as AU1942 but no maps and no frontispiece. Yellow cloth over boards, title on spine only. Dust jacket in white and orange, displaying a dandified Hobbit. 13.0 x 18.8 cm, 310 numbered pages.

  5. AU1951 &mdash George Allen & Unwin LTD of London, 1951. Covers and dust jacket in same art as AU1937 but size has changed. Tolkien modified the story (particularly Riddles in the Dark) to match what The Lord of the Rings had evolved into. Color frontispiece; otherwise black-and-white illustrations, as with AU1942. This is the first printing of the second edition and the fifth printing overall. Printings through the 15th occasionally change printing signatures, correct typographical errors, and add advertising for other Tolkien books. 13.0 x 19.0 cm, 315 numbered pages.

  6. HM1951 &mdash Houghton Mifflin Co. of Boston and New York, 1951. Identical sheets, illustrations, and binding as AU1951. Only the title page and dust jacket have changed to name the publisher.

    See Identifying HMCo Editions of The Hobbit.

  7. HM1954 &mdash Houghton Mifflin Co. of Boston and New York, 1954. Identical sheets and illustrations as the 6th UK printing (second printing of AU1951), but the binding reverted to a design similar to HM1938, only smaller and without the bowing hobbit insignia on the front cover. Unlike the corresponding UK edition, the American covers changed color roughly every printing, though samples can be found with sheets from one UK printing and binding color prevalent on a neighboring US printing. Unlike the UK impressions, most of the US printings of the second edition did not declare the impression on the reverse of the title page, making them difficult to identify. 13.0 x 19.0 cm, 315 numbered pages.

    See Identifying HMCo Editions of The Hobbit.

  8. PB1961 &mdash Penguin Books, 1961. (From the Puffin Books series.) Paperback with illustration of the adventurers in the Misty Mountains passes during the storm, by Pauline Baynes. All illustrations have been removed, and the maps are printed in black-and-white. 11 x 17.9 cm, 288 numbered pages.

  9. HM1965 &mdash Houghton Mifflin Co. of Boston, 1965? Covers and dust jacket similar to HM1954, but cover is light green and does not vary in successive printings. Color frontispiece removed, and the red from the end paper maps has changed to black. There is no color left within the book at all. These comprise the US 16th through 24th? printings, with sheets printed in the US. Format has enlarged to 13.8 x 21 cm. 315 numbered pages.

    See Identifying HMCo Editions of The Hobbit.

  10. BB1965 &mdash Ballantine Books, Inc., of New York, 1965. Paperback with fanciful illustration of Hobbiton in an oval frame with emus and a lion in the foreground. Cover art by Barbara Remington. Maps in black and white; no internal illustrations. 10.5 x 17.7 cm, 287 numbered pages.

    a. On the 6th printing, Ballantine airbrushed out the lion on the cover because it greatly irritated Tolkien.

  11. UB1966 &mdash Unwin Books of London, 1966. Paper jacket on stiff paper with Tolkien's color pencil illustration of Smaug over Lake Town. Maps in black and white; no other illustrations. 12.2 x 18.4 cm, 271 numbered pages.

  12. AU1966 &mdash Allen & Unwin of London, 1966. Cloth on boards. Similar in design and format to AU1937a, but this is the third edition and also the 16th impression counting from AU1937. As in AU1937a, four color plates, and end paper maps in black, white, and red. Similar dust-jacket to AU1937. 12.2 x 18.4 cm, 317 numbered pages.

  13. HM1968 &mdash Houghton Mifflin Company of Boston, 1968. Very similar in design and format to HM1965, but this is the third edition text based on AU1966. As in HM1965, no color illustrations, and maps in black and white. 13.8 x 21 cm, 317 numbered pages.

  14. HM1973 &mdash Houghton Mifflin Company of Boston, 1973. Forest green simulated leather boards with red and gold gilt runic inscription around the periphery in front and a stylized road-going-into-forest-in-front-of-mountains illustration in gold gilt a little above center. Matching slipcase in simulated leather with the same cover illustration on a paste-down in green, black, and yellow. Printed on heavy paper. All original illustrations from HM1938 restored, including color plates. Black-and-white illustrations printed as black-and-green, maps in black and green, and each page neatline is in green. 18 x 23.5 cm, 317 numbered pages.

    a. Book-of-the-Month edition, distinguished by annotation on the copyright page.

  15. BB1973 &mdash Ballantine Books, Inc., of New York, 1973. Continuation of BB1965. Cover art has changed to Tolkien's illustration of Bilbo Comes to the Huts of the Raft-elves.

  16. HA1977 &mdash Harry N. Abrams, Inc., of New York, 1977. Illustrations by Lester Abrams et al, from the 1977 Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc., animated film. All illustrations in full color, some fold-out. Acetate dust jacket shows illustrations from the same film: (front) the company in the Misty Mountains during the storm; (back) Smaug lying on his treasure. Inexplicably, some front covers show Smaug attacking even though the illustration surely shows the Misty Mountains. Others leave Smaug out. 28.8 x 26.8 cm, 220 numbered pages.

  17. FS1979 &mdash The Folio Society of London, 1979. Illustrations by Eric Fraser. Burgundy leather quarter-bound with remainder in burgundy cloth on boards. Gold gilt "maze" pattern on front and spine. End-paper maps in black, white and red; other illustrations in black and white. Light gray-green slipcase. 15 x 22.8 cm, 245 numbered pages.

  18. BB1981 &mdash Ballantine Books, Inc., of New York, 1981. Continuation of BB1965. Cover art has changed to Darrell K. Sweet's illustration of '\'The Lord of the Eagles''.

  19. EP1984 &mdash Easton Press of Norwalk, Connecticut, 1984. Probably from the same sheets as HM1973 with margins trimmed. Frontispiece illustration by Michael Hague showing the company in the foreground and The Lonely Mountain in the background; otherwise all illustrations and maps are as described for HM1973. Full leather covers; ribbed spine; gold-leaf edges all around; tipped-in bookmark; gold gilt runic lettering on front cover. 14.8 x 22.5 cm, 317 numbered pages.

  20. BB1985 &mdash Ballantine Books, Inc., of New York, 1985. Continuation of BB1965. Cover art has reverted to Tolkien's illustration of Bilbo Comes to the Huts of the Raft-elves, but framed and shrunk down comparatively.

  21. HM1987 &mdash Houghton Mifflin Company of Boston, 1987. 50th Anniversary Edition. Similar in design to HM1973, but covers and slipcase are in gold instead of green, and the front cover illustration is a "50" in green. All monochrome illustrations, including maps, in gold and black instead of green and black. Color plates same as HM1973. Foreword by Christopher Tolkien describes the history of the writing and publication of The Hobbit.

    a. Book-of-the-Month Club edition, distinguished by annotation on copyright page.

  22. UH1988 &mdash Unwin Hyman of London etc., 1988. The Annotated Hobbit. Extensively annotated text by Douglas A. Anderson. Black cloth binding on boards. Purple dust jacket framed in black, with centerpiece title above a copy of the original dust jacket. Interior illustrations culled from most extant editions, especially foreign-language. Annotations include all significant changes to the text from the 1937 original. 22.0 x 28.8 cm, 335 numbered pages.

  23. HM1988 &mdash Houghton Mifflin Company of Boston, 1988. American edition of UH1988. Blue paper binding on boards. Dust jacket is an enlargement of the original 1937 dust jacket. Interior same as UH1988.

  24. GB1989 &mdash Galahad Books of New York, 1989. Red cloth binding over boards. Smaller reprint of HA1977 with similar dust jacket art but on paper. 27.2 x 22.9 cm, 220 numbered pages.

Other Known English-language Editions

[Need to be described by people who own them]: