The early
United States editions of
The Hobbit were published by the
Houghton Mifflin Company of
Boston and
New York City and are particularly collectible but difficult to identify. Tolkien's publisher was
George Allen & Unwin of London (A&U).
Houghton Mifflin of Boston and New York arranged to publish Tolkien's books in the United States. Houghton Mifflin printed sheets for the first edition from plates etched from a photo-enlargement of the Allen & Unwin first edition. For the second edition they imported sheets directly from A&U. However, they bound their own volumes, usually distinctly from their British counterparts. The American versions differed from the British in one respect crucial to the collectibles market: beyond the first printing, most of Houghton Mifflin's impressions did not identify which printing run they came out of or even a copyright date. This failure caused confusion in the collectibles market, as few people can identify the Houghton Mifflin second editions, which were extant from 1951 to 1966. Very roughly, earlier printings are valued more than later. In particular, the first edition, with its different account of
Riddles in the Dark, is in great demand. However, the fifth overall impression, or the first printing of the second edition, seems to be garnering prices as high as the British fourth printing, which was the cheapest and most common of the first edition printings. Later second edition printings are valued much less than first edition printings or the first printing of the second edition. The presence of the matching dust-jacket often doubles the value of any of these printings, particularly if it is in good shape. However, because the second American edition changes its binding color from printing to printing, they gain considerable charm displayed in array without their jackets.
The first edition Houghton Mifflin published the first American edition of
The Hobbit in spring of 1938 following its September, 1937 debut in the United Kingdom. For this first edition Houghton Mifflin printed the sheets in the United States. They chose to print it in a larger size and on heavier stock than Allen & Unwin's first edition, and they included four color plates of Tolkien's original artwork. Margins are ample and the typesetting well crafted for readability. The lettering on the tan cloth cover is printed in deep blue. The bowing
hobbit emblem on the front and the
dwarf's hood emblem on the spine are filled with bright red. The end-paper maps were printed in red only, instead of the black and red chosen by Allen & Unwin. The publisher mistakenly put the Wilderland map at the front and the
Lonely Mountain map at the back, the reverse of the description in the text. Surviving dust-jackets on the first edition are rare. It is not known whether that is because of attrition, because some printings were not jacketed, or because lots directed to some markets did not come with jackets. What is known is that jackets have been reported on more than one of the printings, most commonly on the first printing. The jacket has a medium blue field all around. The front announces the title in white, beneath which appears, in color and framed in red, Tolkien's illustration of
Hobbiton. The reverse displays Tolkien's illustration of
Smaug on his trove, also in color. A series of changes to the book suggest that Houghton Mifflin printed the first edition several times. The earliest copies show the same bowing hobbit emblem on the title page as is visible on the cover, but in outline. The first printing appeared on March 1, 1938. This earliest printing also has no half-title page. At some point the publisher replaced the emblem on the title page with a seated
flautist. The first two printings mistakenly identify Chapter VII as Chapter VI on page 118, a defect corrected in the third. The binding's cloth changes slightly in color and texture in step with other changes. The first printing's table of illustrations lists
Thrór's map as the front endpaper, in accordance with the text (page 30) but contradicting the actual order. The later printings of the first edition list the Wilderland map as the front endpaper, in accordance with the actual order but contradicting the text. (Regarding the bowing Hobbit emblem, some say the boots the hobbit wears conflicted with the text's description of a bare-footed hobbit, prompting the publisher to replace it. Yet the device comes directly from Tolkien's picture of Bilbo bowing to Smaug on his horde of treasure. Tolkien defended the boots to an astute reader by explaining that Bilbo had acquired them along the way.) Hammond & Anderson refer to these variations as "states" within the "first printing", and recorded only two: one with the bowing hobbit on the title page, and one with the seated flautist.) All printings of the first edition measure 15.0 x 21.0 cm. They contain 310 numbered pages.
First edition identifier †Note the explanation below: this is
not the order the maps appear, but, rather, the order stated in the List of Illustrations. In all first editions the Wilderland map appears as the front paste-down. ††Earliest confirmed date as seen in publisher's records, owner's inscriptions, or library stamps. • emblem •
hobbit: Center of title page shows a bowing hobbit emblem. •
flautist: Center of title page shows a seated flautist emblem. • half-title •
none: Volume has no half-title page. •
present: Volume has a half-title page. • binding •
book cloth A: Yellowish-tan with slight greenish cast. Even color, tight weave in both directions. •
book cloth B: Neutral light tan, the lightest amongst the group. Tight weave. •
book cloth C: Slightly darker than book cloth B; very faint pinkish cast in some light. Even weave. •
book cloth D: Variegated darker tan, lacking any greenish or yellowish pall. Linen-like weave. •
book cloth E: Similar to book cloth A, but more intensely yellow. •
library: Deep orange with jacket design silk-screened in black. • page 118 •
Chapter VI: The chapter title is mislabeled. •
Chapter VII: The chapter title is correct. • map order •
Thrór front: The List of Illustrations mistakenly states Thrór's map is the front endpaper. •
Thrór back: The List of Illustrations correctly states Thrór's map is the rear endpaper. • map stock •
smooth: The paper the maps are printed on is smoothly calendered. •
rough: The paper the maps are printed on is no smoother than the text block. • map leaves •
paste-down: The outside leaf of each map is pasted down onto the inside of the cover. •
free: The outside leaf of each map is a free leaf. • type flaws •
clean • None of the flaws listed below. •
broken A • p. 193: Line 8, the "t" in "into" is broken. • p. 193: Line 10, the "o" of "of" is broken. • p. 205: Line 5, the "e" of "else" is broken. • p. 237: Last paragraph, there may be spots of thin ink toward the left, especially the two (s)s of "darkness" as well as "the" below. •
broken B • All of
broken A plus: • p. 81: Line 16, the comma after "blade," is light, and so is the opt left of the "o" just below. • p. 119: Line 3, the "o" in "below" is broken at the bottom. • p. 125: Line 4, the "o" in "to see" is broken at the bottom. • p. 125: Line 13, the "ea" in "mean" is slightly clipped at the top. • p. 145: Line 16, the "he" in the first "the" is lightened. •
broken B/C • All of
broken B plus: • p. 213: Line 13, the right stem of "n" in "nor" is broken in the middle. • p. 217: Line 1, the hump of the "h" in "the" has a hairline crack. •
broken C • All of
broken B/C plus: • p. 17: Line 2, the upper half of the left stem of the "w" in "well" is lightened slightly.
The second edition Basics Tolkien began work on
The Lord of the Rings in the years after ''The Hobbit's
publication. As the story evolved, Tolkien realized he needed to change how Bilbo and Gollum interacted in The Hobbit
to suit the plot of The Lord of the Rings''. He also wrote a new version of the introductory note to explain an apparent discrepancy between the map, saying that Thrain had been king under the mountain despite Thorin's father Thrain never having held that title. This was explained as the map referring to a distant ancestor, Thrain I. However, this introduced contradictions with the text, such as statements that Erebor had been founded in the time of Thorin's grandfather, thus precluding an ancient Thrain I having ruled there. These issues were eventually addressed with changes for the third edition. Allen & Unwin prepared a new edition of
The Hobbit for release in 1951, and Houghton Mifflin followed suit. These American impressions from the 5th through the 14th were bound from sheets printed in Great Britain, corresponding to the same George Allen & Unwin printings of the second edition. Unlike the AU printings, the American copies do not state the printing until the 18th in the second edition, making them very difficult to identify in isolation. The only exceptions are the 11th, 12th, and one of the two
variants of the 5th impression, each of which states the full printing history. The following list of "points" was developed by Strebe by comparing unknown American printings to known British printings. Steve Frisby untangled the 9th printing, which differs from its Allen & Unwin counterpart on page 315. (This divergence likely resulted from the cancel title pages AU was obliged to supply when they converted 9th printing sheets intended for British domestic use into Houghton Mifflin sets.) Information regarding the print run sizes of the Second American Edition of the Hobbit is held by the University of Reading Special Collections Service. The American second editions from the 5th through 14th printings measure 12.7 x 19.0 cm, contain 315 numbered pages, and have end-paper maps printed in black, white, and red. The frontispiece is printed in color, but the remaining color plates of the first edition have been eliminated. With the exception of the 5th printing, the cover design is similar to the American first edition, only smaller, differently colored, and lacking the bowing hobbit emblem on the front board. Both
variants of the 5th printing, on the other hand, are bound identically to the British printings, with the only distinction being the notation "Houghton Mifflin Company" at the base of the book's spine.
Print runs The following table lists the printing dates, export dates, and number of sheets exported from George Allen & Unwin to Houghton Mifflin across the second edition, as determined from George Allen & Unwin records. The printings of the standard third edition are not marked as such. Instead, they list their printing on the reverse of the title page in the original succession, dating right back to the first UK printing. They are bound identically to the later printings of the second edition. The first impression of the third edition is the one marked as the 24th printing with a copyright date of 1966. Second editions contain the original description of the revised edition, beginning with, "In this reprint several minor inaccuracies...". The third edition's foreword, on the other hand, describes the runic characters seen on the maps and in the text. It commences with, "This is a story of long ago." Also, third editions contain 317 numbered pages, as compared to the 315 of the second edition. == Other known English-language editions ==