THE HOBBIT, 1937 FIRST EDITION, 2ND PRINTING
George Allen & Unwin, London, 1937. 1st Edition. Hardcover.
George Allen & Unwin, London, 1937
First Edition, Second Impression, 1937: A near fine very clean copy.
The first printing of The Hobbit was issued on 21st September 1937 with a print run of only 1500 copies. The book was an immediate success and sold out within months. The second impression (of which this copy is one), was printed in December the same year in an edition of 2300 copies (423 of which were destroyed at the warehouse of the binder, Key and Whiting, in the bombing of London on November 7th 1940) and was the first printing to convert four of the author’s black and white illustration plates to color. These were initially commissioned for and later published in the American edition. [Hammond A3a.] Please note that today first/firsts are selling for $400,000 and up in an original jacket.
This book is in near fine condition for the Second Impression, and received slight restoration only to a small bit of fraying along the very outer edge of the lower spine (not affecting the lettering..just the green cloth edge). Otherwise, the boards are remarkable condition with fresh supple clean cloth with a few small spots of toning, sharp corners and no edgewear. The binding is tight and square. The original end papers are present, and are clean and bright with no owner names, no inscriptions, no bookplates and no bookstore stamps. The internal pages are all clean, bright and flat with no handling marks, no bent pages and no stains. An overall very clean fresh book. Lacking the dust jacket. Please see all the images.
A superb very early printing in very clean condition.
ADDITIONAL IMAGES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST. Please see our store for other landmark Fantasy and SciFi titles. Near Fine. Item #3271
Price: $21,895.00