Written for J.R.R. Tolkien"s own children, The Hobbit met with instant critical acclaim when first published more than sixty years ago. Now recognized as a timeless classic with sales of more than 40 million copies worldwide, this introduction to Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf the Wizard, and the spectacular world of Middle-earth tells of the adventures of a reluctant hero, a powerful and dangerous ring, and the cruel dragon Smaug the Magnificent.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."
The hobbit-hole in question belongs to one Bilbo Baggins, an upstanding member of a "little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded dwarves." He is, like most of his kind, well off, well fed, and best pleased when sitting by his own fire with a pipe, a glass of good beer, and a meal to look forward to. Certainly this particular hobbit is the last person one would expect to see set off on a hazardous journey; indeed, when Gandalf the Grey stops by one morning, "looking for someone to share in an adventure," Baggins fervently wishes the wizard elsewhere. No such luck, however; soon 13 fortune-seeking dwarves have arrived on the hobbit's doorstep in search of a burglar, and before he can even grab his hat or an umbrella, Bilbo Baggins is swept out his door and into a dangerous adventure.
The dwarves' goal is to return to their ancestral home in the Lonely Mountains and reclaim a stolen fortune from the dragon Smaug. Along the way, they and their reluctant companion meet giant spiders, hostile elves, ravening wolves--and, most perilous of all, a subterranean creature named Gollum from whom Bilbo wins a magical ring in a riddling contest. It is from this life-or-death game in the dark that J.R.R. Tolkien's masterwork, The Lord of the Rings, would eventually spring. Though The Hobbit is lighter in tone than the trilogy that follows, it has, like Bilbo Baggins himself, unexpected iron at its core. Don't be fooled by its fairy-tale demeanor; this is very much a story for adults, though older children will enjoy it, too. By the time Bilbo returns to his comfortable hobbit-hole, he is a different person altogether, well primed for the bigger adventures to come--and so is the reader. --Alix Wilber --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Noted artist Hague provides 48 dazzling paintings for this first-ever version of the timeless fantasy classic. All ages.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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More About the Author
J.R.R. Tolkien (1892.1973), beloved throughout the world as the creator of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, was a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford, a fellow of Pembroke College, and a fellow of Merton College until his retirement in 1959. His chief interest was the linguistic aspects of the early English written tradition, but even as he studied these classics he was creating a set of his own.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
64 of 74 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I bought this book because I wanted a hardcover illustrated fancy version of "The Hobbit".
I'm just going to pretend that everyone who reads this review has already read "The Hobbit" and knows what it's about. Like I suspect many others do, I have my own old sacred tattered and dog-eared paperback version on the Tolkien bookshelf.
This book (the physical object, not just the story) is beautiful. It's clothbound in dark green and embossed in gold, and the bottom corner of the front cover has a gold embossed dragon, tastefully rendered. The paper dustjacket/cover features a dragon as well (I'm guessing Smaug). Eye-catching.
There are many full-page color paintings, and many grayscale drawings (not full page) throughout. I'm not an art student, so I don't know what they're really called. Pencil-drawings or something. I call them grayscale because they're gray. Anyway, the Allen Lee illustrations are utterly charming, soft and colorful without being too bright. However, I wouldn't recommend this illustrated book for very young children; some of the goblins and trolls are frightening!
I was a bit disappointed that Alan Lee didn't include more illustrations of Elves. Most of the pictures dealt with Bilbo and the dwarves, with a few of goblins and Gollum (scary). Also, I pictured Bilbo Baggins to be somewhat on the "stout" side...the text *does* refer to Hobbits as being "inclined to be fat in the stomach" and liking two dinners a day, "when they can get it." The Bilbo Baggins in these illustrations is quite slender and looks as if he could use that second dinner right away! Maybe even a third and fourth! The balding, skinny Hobbit did surprise me. But then, I kind of expected the chubby halfling I saw on some old Tolkien calendars.
This book makes a wonderful coffee table book and would make a great gift. It's printed on thick glossy paper, so the book is heavy. In these days of cheap hardcover bookbinding and paperbacks that have the consistency of the thick weekly manga, this book is truly a work of art in itself.
Recommended for all but the very young, or the easily frightened.
343 of 415 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
[This is a review of the 70th Anniversary Edition, not so much of THE HOBBIT itself. I've reviewed the book proper elsewhere, and would rather focus on the actual edition itself.]
THE HOBBIT is one of those few books that I have felt justified to buy multiple copies over the years. It is a book I have read and cherished, and a book I dearly love. THE HOBBIT is a novel that deserves to be bought multiple times over, and I always enjoy looking at new editions of this classic work. So imagine my excitement when I found out they would be publishing a 70th anniversary edition of one of my most cherished novels!
This has been a big year for Tolkien fans. Christopher Tolkien published THE CHILDREN OF HURIN, a newly completed version of Turin's legend, in April. We've gotten (at long last), THE HISTORY OF THE HOBBIT, expertly handled by brilliant Tolkien scholar John D. Ratcliffe and published in two separate volumes. And of course, we have the 70th anniversary of Tolkien's first primary work, THE HOBBIT, which this edition is published in celebration of that momentous occasion. And does it live up as a major new edition of this fantasy classic?
That's a pretty easy answer. The answer is NO.
First off, here are the positives. The 70th anniversary edition is pretty much how the first edition of THE HOBBIT was actually published back in 1937 with some notable improvements, and conforming to Tolkien's pretty exacting specifications, including how the dust jacket should appear, as well as the art and maps that accompany the text.
These are the notable differences between the first edition and this edition. Due to cost, Tolkien was not able from a production standpoint to have the book appear exactly as he envisioned. The 1937 publication cut some of his artwork, the map was not how he so desired, and the dust jacket, due to printing cost, was limited to three primary colours (green, black, and white). Originally, Tolkien wanted the sun on the front cover and the dragon on the back cover to be totally in red, but this was not feasible.
Obviously Tolkien's work is successful enough that these production costs are no longer an issue, and so this is a relatively accurate facsimile of what Tolkien would have wanted to publish in 1937 had money not been an object, as it too often is in the real world. For that, this edition has some worth.
Now, there are some negatives. And these are big negatives.
First off, paper quality and binding. It's bad.
Then there's the actual art work. The colour artwork is quite nicely implemented into the main text, and overall I don't have a problem with the colour artwork from a production standpoint. The paintings are bright and colourful, and remain true to higher quality prints of Tolkien's phenomenal painting. But unfortunately the same cannot be said of the black and white illustrations. Like a reviewer said before me, it appears Tolkien's drawings were reproduced on a cheap scanner. Tolkien's artwork is highly valuable, but unfortunately the drawings here are rather badly reproduced in this edition.
Then there's the advertisement for LOTR at the end that's rather annoying. They reproduce the first chapter of FELLOWSHIP and place it at the end of the novel, acting like a cheap plug for Tolkien's masterpiece. I don't have any problem with plugging LOTR, but to me this inclusion of the first chapter just cheapens the whole book, especially when it's supposed to be a major edition of a major work. We all know about LOTR. Do we really need the first chapter here? Rather tacky, to say the least.
Then there's the problem of Christopher Tolkien's forward. This is what I was most looking forward too, actually. Having read E. A. Solinas's review, I was under the impression this was a new forward prepared specifically by Christopher for the 70th anniversary of his father's work. Not the case. It's simply a reprint of the forward he wrote for the 50th anniversary of THE HOBBIT, twenty years previously.
As far as textual authenticity, I must be honest in the fact that I've only browsed it at a Borders bookstore, but I'd be very surprised if they did not use the text from The Annotated Hobbit, as it is the most definitive and accurate text yet established for the book. Still, I can't verify that that is the case.
Overall, this is a fair edition of THE HOBBIT. It could have been a lot more. What sets this apart from the other copies is this is how Tolkien truly envisioned how he wanted the book to appear, and for that fact alone, this is a valuable edition to the Tolkien collector. Unfortunately the poor production quality of the black and while illustrations, the rather tacky inclusion of LOTR's first chapter, and the disappointment of the publishers' just reprinting a twenty year old introduction to the 50th anniversary publication rather brings the whole affair down. I think I'll pass on this one.
For those looking for the best edition of Tolkien's book, buy THE ANNOTATED HOBBIT, first published in 1988 and republished in a new format in 2003. The second version of THE ANNOTATED HOBBIT is the definitive edition of this phenomenal work as far as I'm concerned.
THE HOBBIT is one of those few books that I have felt justified to buy multiple copies over the years. It is a book I have read and cherished, and a book I dearly love. THE HOBBIT is a novel that deserves to be bought multiple times over, and I always enjoy looking at new editions of this classic work. So imagine my excitement when I found out they would be publishing a 70th anniversary edition of one of my most cherished novels!
This has been a big year for Tolkien fans. Christopher Tolkien published THE CHILDREN OF HURIN, a newly completed version of Turin's legend, in April. We've gotten (at long last), THE HISTORY OF THE HOBBIT, expertly handled by brilliant Tolkien scholar John D. Ratcliffe and published in two separate volumes. And of course, we have the 70th anniversary of Tolkien's first primary work, THE HOBBIT, which this edition is published in celebration of that momentous occasion. And does it live up as a major new edition of this fantasy classic?
That's a pretty easy answer. The answer is NO.
First off, here are the positives. The 70th anniversary edition is pretty much how the first edition of THE HOBBIT was actually published back in 1937 with some notable improvements, and conforming to Tolkien's pretty exacting specifications, including how the dust jacket should appear, as well as the art and maps that accompany the text.
These are the notable differences between the first edition and this edition. Due to cost, Tolkien was not able from a production standpoint to have the book appear exactly as he envisioned. The 1937 publication cut some of his artwork, the map was not how he so desired, and the dust jacket, due to printing cost, was limited to three primary colours (green, black, and white). Originally, Tolkien wanted the sun on the front cover and the dragon on the back cover to be totally in red, but this was not feasible.
Obviously Tolkien's work is successful enough that these production costs are no longer an issue, and so this is a relatively accurate facsimile of what Tolkien would have wanted to publish in 1937 had money not been an object, as it too often is in the real world. For that, this edition has some worth.
Now, there are some negatives. And these are big negatives.
First off, paper quality and binding. It's bad.
Then there's the actual art work. The colour artwork is quite nicely implemented into the main text, and overall I don't have a problem with the colour artwork from a production standpoint. The paintings are bright and colourful, and remain true to higher quality prints of Tolkien's phenomenal painting. But unfortunately the same cannot be said of the black and white illustrations. Like a reviewer said before me, it appears Tolkien's drawings were reproduced on a cheap scanner. Tolkien's artwork is highly valuable, but unfortunately the drawings here are rather badly reproduced in this edition.
Then there's the advertisement for LOTR at the end that's rather annoying. They reproduce the first chapter of FELLOWSHIP and place it at the end of the novel, acting like a cheap plug for Tolkien's masterpiece. I don't have any problem with plugging LOTR, but to me this inclusion of the first chapter just cheapens the whole book, especially when it's supposed to be a major edition of a major work. We all know about LOTR. Do we really need the first chapter here? Rather tacky, to say the least.
Then there's the problem of Christopher Tolkien's forward. This is what I was most looking forward too, actually. Having read E. A. Solinas's review, I was under the impression this was a new forward prepared specifically by Christopher for the 70th anniversary of his father's work. Not the case. It's simply a reprint of the forward he wrote for the 50th anniversary of THE HOBBIT, twenty years previously.
As far as textual authenticity, I must be honest in the fact that I've only browsed it at a Borders bookstore, but I'd be very surprised if they did not use the text from The Annotated Hobbit, as it is the most definitive and accurate text yet established for the book. Still, I can't verify that that is the case.
Overall, this is a fair edition of THE HOBBIT. It could have been a lot more. What sets this apart from the other copies is this is how Tolkien truly envisioned how he wanted the book to appear, and for that fact alone, this is a valuable edition to the Tolkien collector. Unfortunately the poor production quality of the black and while illustrations, the rather tacky inclusion of LOTR's first chapter, and the disappointment of the publishers' just reprinting a twenty year old introduction to the 50th anniversary publication rather brings the whole affair down. I think I'll pass on this one.
For those looking for the best edition of Tolkien's book, buy THE ANNOTATED HOBBIT, first published in 1988 and republished in a new format in 2003. The second version of THE ANNOTATED HOBBIT is the definitive edition of this phenomenal work as far as I'm concerned.
71 of 83 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Tolkien's Hobbit takes the imagination on a wonderful flight
of fantasy. I read this book on a yearly basis and each
year I am delighted and captivated by the world of Bilbo
Baggins.
Bilbo is a reluctant member of an adventure that will
forever change his life and the lives of those around him.
He accompanies 13 dwarves on a mission to reclaim the gold
and mountain kingdom of their ancestors from the dragon,
Smaug. They have many adventures and mishaps on their
journey to the lonely mountain including the climactic battle of
five armies. Bilbo finds a magic ring along the way which
leads, not only to a rise in his stature, but also to a new
adventure for his friends in "The Lord of the Rings."
Tolkien is a master storyteller and the depth of his skill
is best seen in this tale. In the following trilogy, "The
Lord of the Rings" the story is continued, but the sheer
delight of "The Hobbit" is never fully recaptured.
This collector's edition is beautifully bound. Even more
enjoyable are the illustrations and paintings by the author
himself.
of fantasy. I read this book on a yearly basis and each
year I am delighted and captivated by the world of Bilbo
Baggins.
Bilbo is a reluctant member of an adventure that will
forever change his life and the lives of those around him.
He accompanies 13 dwarves on a mission to reclaim the gold
and mountain kingdom of their ancestors from the dragon,
Smaug. They have many adventures and mishaps on their
journey to the lonely mountain including the climactic battle of
five armies. Bilbo finds a magic ring along the way which
leads, not only to a rise in his stature, but also to a new
adventure for his friends in "The Lord of the Rings."
Tolkien is a master storyteller and the depth of his skill
is best seen in this tale. In the following trilogy, "The
Lord of the Rings" the story is continued, but the sheer
delight of "The Hobbit" is never fully recaptured.
This collector's edition is beautifully bound. Even more
enjoyable are the illustrations and paintings by the author
himself.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great book
I love this book. It was my first fantasy book to read, and easy to read. Who can forget the trolls, or the ride in teh barrels. This is an all time classic.
Published 15 hours ago by Jade Lee
I will likely re-read this a few more times in the future
"...Many of you have likely read this before, some of you have probably read it many times over, but I find that it's absolutely worth reading more than once. Read more
Published 20 hours ago by Colleen @ Here Be Bookwyrms
A classic.
The Hobbit reminds me of nothing so much as a well turned bedtime story. It is a book I've enjoyed reading again and again since I was a teenager.
Published 8 days ago by Alison
An Unexpected Journey
What is a hobbit? A hobbit is creature who likes peace, and quiet. Their most favorite hobby is of course eating. But one Hobbit changed how the world would see them forever. Read more
Published 8 days ago by DGF Middle School
Great illustrated version!!
A pure pleasure to read this multi-media enhanced edition of The Hobbit! The illustrations are very nice and to be able to hear J.R.R. Tolkien sing, etc. is a really nice touch! Read more
Published 8 days ago by Laban
nicely done
this audiobook is a good. i was looking for a good audiobook where where i can relax and listen to. well, i found it. a very good renbition of the hobbit. buy it
Published 8 days ago by Scot E. Bolin
Great fantasy for all ages...
It's been decades since I read The Hobbit last and, with the movie coming out soon, I thought it would be a great idea to pick it up and read it again. Read more
Published 14 days ago by Karissa Eckert
Love Bilbo Baggins.
Wonderful book. I read it 25 years ago, then read it again recently and re-KINDLE-d my love affair with Hobbits. :-)
Published 17 days ago by Judith Bartels
The Hobbit
The Hobbit is an awesome story of an adventure that will truly take your breath away. Bilbo Baggins -the hobbit and main character,sets out with 13 friends to fight a dragon and... Read more
Published 17 days ago by Sofia M.
Long time ago
I read this book for the first time in 1978 and I loved it than...I love it now as well. Anyone that has read the Lord of the Rings and not the Hobbit has not read the entire... Read more
Published 18 days ago by JPIII
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