Are there different versions of the Hobbit book? (2023)

This is one of the points where things can get a bit complicated ... :)

There are some three main editions of the text of The Hobbit that have been published.

In the first edition, Gollum had promised Bilbo a gift if he won the riddle game, meaning to give Bilbo the Ring (which he didn't have much use for down there in the darkness), and when he couldn't find the Ring (because Bilbo had already found it), Gollum agreed to show Bilbo the way outand they parted amiably ...

In the ten-year period when he was originally writing The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien realised that this narrative couldn't stand, and so, when he was sending in some errata for a new printing of The Hobbit, he included a revision of that chapter (chapter 5, Riddles in the Dark) – not really intending for Allan & Unwin (the publisher) to actually put it in the book, but mostly to hear what they thought of it. But, as it was sent togetherwith other errata to The Hobbit it got published, and Tolkien was in for a bit of a surprise :)

In the sixties, a third edition was published with some minor changes, here and there making the text slightly more consistent with The Lord of the Rings, though overall the two stories are still quite inconsistent in style and world-description.

Much of this is covered in the brilliant Annotated Hobbit edited by Doug Anderson, where all published changes to thetext are listed.

This issue with the inconsistent feeling between The Hobbit on one hand and The Lord of the Rings on the other has to do with the history of the genesis of the two works. For The Hobbit, this is covered in The History of the Hobbit edited by John Rateliff.

At first, Gandalf was the head dwarf and the wizard was called Bladorthin - and the dragon was called Pryftan. The dragon soon got another name, but it wasn't until late in thewriting that the wizard became Gandalf and the lead Dwarf became Thorin. There was thus always a wizard, and always a Gandalf in the story – they just weren't the same person all along :)

There's a bit of discussion on where exactly to put the start of Tolkien's Middle-earth writings, but most arguments put it in the 1914–17 period with the early marker being the composition of a poem about Earendel (as he spelled it at the time) in 1914, and the later marker being the composition of thefirst stories of The Book of Lost Tales in 1917.

At the time about 1930 when Tolkien started on The Hobbit, he had therefore been writing for quite a while in this mythological setting, and casting about for some innocuous back-cloth for his children's story, he often settled on his mythology, though he also drew on other sources such as European folklore and fairy tales (e.g. for the three trolls in The Hobbit). It seems quite clear that Tolkien did this withoutmuch thought – he never intended the story to be really set in his mythology, but just used the mythology in much the same manner as a theatre will use something created for one play to serve as backcloth for another play.

Another metaphor (if I may) would be to say that Tolkien made a branch of his mythology code to serve as a background library for his Hobbit story with absolutely no intention to merge the new code base back into the ‘real’ code branch of the mythology.

The Hobbitstory, however, saw instant success, and the publishers pressured for a sequel. Tolkien started to cast about for something to serve as a link to the sequel, settled on the Ring, the story got drastically out of hand, and the rest, as they say, is history ...

Along that route, the sequel got entirely sucked into the mythology, drawing the little Hobbit story along with it, kicking and screaming, one could suspect, as the Hobbit story really does not fit in the larger mythology (certainlynot without assuming quite a lot dramatic license on Bilbo's part ... speaking purses? His diary – especially in the earlier chapters – seems to be more of a tall tale than an historical account).

A major part of my Tolkien book collection concentrates upon one single book, namely 'the Hobbit'. This is the book where it all started from for me and for Tolkien in a more worldly way. It is this book that has been published over and over again... and i guess its publication history might be one of the most interesting of all books ever published. Really, there is a jungle out there of publications and it is truly hard to get trough it and get a clear picture.... so ourquest starts here. Let us arrange and show all known editions of Hobbits in a row. I'll start here and show all books i have in my collection and will add all books (with credits) by all you if you manage to find others not covered here (mail me (please with pictures) to ). I'm am still photgraphing and ordering most of my books in my collection so please be patient, but do not hesitate to contact me any way ifyou know other editions no mentioned here.

1937 - 1st/1st UK Allen&Unwin
The First Impression of the first UK edition was published September 21, 1937 by George Allen &Unwin Ltd. It was limited to only 1500 copies. It exists out a light green cloth binding over boards, imprinted witha 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. A 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. The end paper maps in are in red, black, and white. All artwork is by Tolkien.
Originally Tolkien intended the flying dragon and the sun to be painted red, but budget restraints forced the red color to besubstituted with black.

The very first printing had no color illustrations within the book itself, but included 10 black-and-white illustrations along with the the two maps (wich in the beginning were intented to have been 5 maps).

The book contained 310 pages. It was 19 x 13.5cm (7.48 x 5.31in).

1937- 1st/2nd UK Allen&Unwin
By December 15 of 1937, the first printing was sold out and a second impression was quickly prepared, the Second Impression of the first UK edition.
Originally there were 2,300 copies which were marked "Second Impression 1937" (although it was actually published in January 1938). But during the bombing of London in 1940, 423 unbound copies were destroyed by a fire at the bindery of Key &Whiting (leaving us only1877 copies, just 300 more the the first impression).

This second printing converted four plates to color. The line drawing of the Hill: Hobbiton Across the Water (p4) was replaced by a color frontispiece of The Hill: Hobbiton Across the Water. Three other color plates were added: The Fair Valley of Rivendell facing page 59, Bilbo Comes to the Huts of the Raft Elves, facing page 192, and Conversation with Smaug, facing page 228.
The second impression is the only UK 1st editionpublished with 4 color and 9 mono plate illustrations; making it very easy to recognise.

1938 - 1st/1st US HMCo.
The First Impression of the first US edition was published in 1938 by Houghton Mifflin Co. of Boston &New York. 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 ofthe same bowing hobbit as on the cover. All artwork by Tolkien. 15.1 x 21.0 cm, 310 numbered pages.

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

The First Impression , or First State of the first American edition was published in 1938, specific date unknown. The number of copies of the first state is also currently unknown. The Second Impression , or Second State was published March 1, 1938, limited to 5,000copies. The first American editions of the Hobbit were published by Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. The first American editions differed significantly from the UK editions by the inclusion of four of tolkien's color plates. Two of these were used on the dustjacket, the Hill: Hobbiton Across the Water (on the front cover) and Conversation with Smaug (on the back cover). Houghton-Mifflin also decided to place a small figure of a bowing hobbit on the title page and the cover. Unfortunately, thishobbit wore boots! To be fair to the publisher, this hobbit was modeled on the hobbit figure in tolkien's illustration, Conversation with Smaug. The hobbit in the illustration also wears boots. This figure was removed at some point in production, probably as part of the second impression.
Four paintings were used in the first American edition.

1942 - 1st/3th UK Allen&Unwin
The Third Impression
In late 1942, Allen &Unwin printed 1,500 copies of a third impression under their imprint, which ws to be 'a cheaper edition'. The third impression is dated 1942 and is similar to the fist UK impression of 1937 but smaller. 13.0 x 19.0 cm, 310 numbered pages.

The other difference is that the color plates have been removed (except for the frontispiece). Presumably asa result of war-time shortages, Allen &Unwin designed an inexpensive version of the third impression. This version omitted all of the color plates except the color frontispiece of The Hill: Hobbiton Across the Water.

1942 - 1st/3th UK Foyles
3,000 copies for the childrens book club sold by the bookseller Foyles. The third impression printings were supplied to Foyles unbound, and are in fact Same sheets as Allen &Unwin 1942adition, but without the maps and without frontispiece. They were bound independently, in yellow, gilt-stamped cloth over boards. The dustjacket was black, orange and white, featuring a drawing of a dandified Hobbit. Tolkien commented "Surely the paper wasted on that hideous dust-cover could have been better used".

13.0 x 18.8 cm, 310 numbered pages.

1946 - 1st/4th UK Allen&Unwin
The fourth printing consisted of 4,000 copies dated1946 but not officially published until November 18, 1947. Similiar to the third impression, this version was produced to the "War Economy Standard" of the day. These copies tend to be very, very fragile.

1951 - 2nd/1st UK Allen&Unwin
The second edition ofthe UK Hobbit was published in 1951 (3,500 copies). It is also referred to as the fifth impression. Page 8 is marked First Published in 1937, Second Impression 1937, Reprinted 1942, Reprinted 1946, Second Edition (Fifth Impression) 1951. The front of the dustjacket is marked "Fifth Impression". Covers and dust jacket in same art as the first Allen&Unwin edition of 1937 but the size has changed: 13.0 x 19.0 cm, 315 numbered pages. As with the Allen&Unwin 1942edition it has a color frontispiece and otherwise black-and-white illustrations.

The dustjacket also includes press statements from The New Statesman and Nation, Observer, London Times and Lady.

The text also has some corrections of the fourth impression but a number of errors remained. As Tolkien was writing the Hobbit sequel, The Lord of the Rings, he became aware of inconsistencies between the characterization of Gollum in the Hobbit and the features of desperation and obsessionwith the Ring that were required as motivation for his behavior in The Lord of the Rings. The original Gollum was less crazed and degraded by his long association with the Ring. As a result, Tolkien substantially revised Chapter 5. These are described in detail in the Annotated Hobbit.

1951 -2nd/1st US HMCo.
The first of these revisions were made in 1947 and incorporated into the new edition of 1951. The second American edition of 1951 was constructed by binding 1,000 copies printed in the UK by Allen &Unwin. Only the title page and dust jacket have changed to name the publisher. The foot of the spines are marked Houghton Mifflin Company.

1958 - 2nd/6th UK Allen&Unwin
The Hobbit.Hardback with dust wrapper. 2nd Edition, 10th (6th) Impression 1958. George Allen &Unwin.

1954 - 2nd/2nd US HMCo.
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 roughlyevery 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.

1961 - 1st/1st pb UK Puffin

Penquin Books, a Puffin Book
First Printing, First UK paperback edition 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, 284 numbered pages.

1965 - US HMCo.
HM1965 — 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 to13.8 x 21 cm. 315 numbered pages.

1965 - 1st/1st pb US Ballantine

Ballantine Books
First Printing, First US paperback edition 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.

1966 - 1st Revised Edition Ballantine

Ballantine Books
First Printing, Revised Edition paperback

1966 - 1st/1st school edition Longmans Longmans Green &Company
Fourth Printing of the Heritage of Literature Series The Hobbit. Hardback without dust wrapper. The Heritage of Literature Series. Section B, No. 88. 1stEdition 1966. Longman.

1966 - 3th/1st UK Allen &Unwin

George Allen &Unwin first Impression of the "Third UK Edition" Similar in design and format to the first Allen &Unwin 1937 edition, but this is the third edition and also the 16th impressioncounting from the 1st/1st edition of 1937.

It has four color plates, and end paper maps in black, white, and red. Similar dust-jacket to the Allen &Unwin 1937 edition.

12.2 x 18.4 cm, 317 numbered pages.

1966 - Unwin Books Unwin Books of London, 1966. Paper jacket on stiff paper with tolkien's colorpencil illustration of Smaug over Lake Town. Maps in black and white; no other illustrations. 12.2 x 18.4 cm, 271 numbered pages.

1967 - George Allen &Unwin

The Hobbit. Hardback with dust wrapper. 3rd Edition, 17th (3rd) Impression 1967. George Allen &Unwin.

1968 —Houghton Mifflin

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

1970 - 1st / 2nd Longman

The Hobbit. Hardback without dust wrapper. Pleasure in Reading Edition, 2nd Impression 1970. Longman.

1971

The Hobbit. Hardback with dust wrapper. 3rd Edition, 6thImpression 1971. George Allen &Unwin.

1972

The Hobbit. Paperback. 1st Unwin Paperback Edition, 14th Impression 1972. Unwin Books. Cover Illustration – ‘Death of Smaug’ by JRRT.

1972

The Hobbit. Hardback with bound on dust wrapper. 3rd Edition, 7th Impression 1972. George Allen &Unwin. Ex-library – dust wrapper bound onto boards. Resized and end-papers removed.

1972

The Hobbit.Paperback. 4th (School) Edition 1972. George Allen & Unwin. Introduction by R.S. Fowler. Cover Illustration – ‘Conversation with Smaug’ by JRRT.

1973

Houghton Mifflin Company of Boston, 1973. Forest green simulated leather boards with red and gold gilt runic inscriptionaround 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 numberedpages.

1973

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

1973

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 theRaft-elves.

1974

The Hobbit. Paperback. 4th (School) Edition, 2nd Impression 1974. George Allen &Unwin. Introduction by R.S. Fowler. Cover Illustration – ‘Conversation with Smaug’ by JRRT.

1975

The Hobbit. Hardback with dust wrapper. 3rd Edition, 10th Impression 1975. George Allen &Unwin.

1975

The Hobbit. Paperback. Reset (New Edition) 1975. Unwin Books. Cover Illustration -1937 Design by JRRT

1976

George Allen &Unwin
First Impression of the First Deluxe Edition

1976

Methuen Books
First Printing, First Canadian paperback edition

1976

The Hobbit. Hardback in slipcase. 1st Deluxe Edition 1976. George Allen &Unwin for The Folio Society.

1976

The Hobbit. Paperback in slipcase. Reset (New Edition), 2nd Impression 1976. Unwin Paperbacks. Cover Illustration - 1937 Design by JRRT. In slipcase collection ‘The Hobbit and OtherStories’ with ‘Farmer Giles; The Adventures of Tom Bombadil’ and ‘Tree and Leaf; Smith of Wootton Major; The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth’.

1977

Harry N. Abrams Incorporated
First Printing, illustrated by Rankin/Bass 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. Illustrations printed directly on the front and back boards: (front) the company in the Misty Mountains during the storm; (back) Smaug's treasure. Clear acetate jacket overlays the book title and author onto the boards' illustrations and augments the cover illustrations with Smaug's image. In the front, he's flying around the mountain to attack thecompany, even though the illustration is of the Misty Mountains, not the Lonely Mountain. On the rear, Smaug lies on his hoard. Bilbo's ghostly image appears in the foreground. 29.4 x 27.7 cm, 220 numbered pages.

1978

George Allen &Unwin
First Impression of the "FourthUK Edition"

1978

The Hobbit. Hardback with dust wrapper in slipcase. 4th Edition 1978. George Allen &Unwin. In slipcase with 3 Volume LotR and The Silmarillion – The Tolkien Library.

1978

The Hobbit. Paperback. First Methuen Edition October 1978. Methuen. Illustrations from the Rankin/Bass animated film.

1978

Paperback in slipcase.Reset (New Edition), 6th Impression 1978. Unwin Paperbacks. Cover Illustration – ‘Conversation with Smaug’ by JRRT. In slipcase with ‘The Lord of the Rings’, ‘Farmer Giles; The Adventures of Tom Bombadil’ and ‘Tree and Leaf; Smith of Wootton Major; The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth’ – ‘The Tolkien Collection’.

1978

Guild Publishing
First printing of the First Guild Edition

1979
The Folio Society
Illustrated by Eric Fraser
Folio "First Edition" The Folio Society of London, 1979. Illustrations by Eric Fraser. Burgundy leather quarter-boundwith 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.

1979

Paperback in slipcase. 3rd Paperback Edition 1979. Unwin Paperbacks. Cover Illustration – ‘Conversation with Smaug’ by JRRT. In slipcase with ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Silmarillion’ – ‘The Middle-earthCollection’.

1981
Paperback. 4th Paperback Edition 1981. Unwin Paperbacks. Cover Illustration – ‘Conversation with Smaug’ by JRRT.

1981

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.

1982
The Hobbit. Hardback with dust wrapper. 4th Edition, 3rdImpression 1982. George Allen &Unwin.

1982 The Hobbit. Hardback without dust wrapper. Large Print Edition 1982. Charnwood/Thorpe.

1983 The Hobbit. Paperback. 4th Paperback Edition, 7th Impression 1983. Unwin Paperbacks. Cover Illustration – ‘Conversation with Smaug’ by JRRT.

1984
George Allen &Unwin
First Printing, illustrated by Michael Hague

1984
George Allen & Unwin
First Printing, illustrated by Michael Hague Hardback with dust wrapper. 1984 Edition. George Allen & Unwin. Illustrated by Michael Hague. (Dust Wrapper is George Allen &Unwin but binding is Houghton Mifflin Company. Details of British Publishing are on plates pasted over American details)

1984
The Hobbit. Hardback with dust wrapper. 1984 Edition. Guild Publishing. Illustrated by Michael Hague. (Dust Wrapper isGuild Publishing but binding is Houghton Mifflin Company. Details of British Publishing are on plates pasted over American details)

1985
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.

1987
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 platessame as HM1973. Foreword by Christopher Tolkien describes the history of the writing and publication of The Hobbit.

1987
Book-of-the-Month Club edition, distinguished by annotation on copyright page.

1987
Houghton Mifflin Company
US 50th Anniversary Edition

1988
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 acopy 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.

1988
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.

1989
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.

1989/90
Eclipse Books
First Printing, 3 Volume Set,
illustrated by David Wenzel

1990
GuildPublishing
First Printing of the Third Guild Edition

1990
Eclipse Books
1 Volume Limited Edition of 600,
illustrated by David Wenzel

1991
HarperCollins Publishers
First HarperCollins Edition

1992
Published by BallantineBooks (1982 Revised Edition)
Cover illustration by Michael Herring

1992
Published by BCA in arrangement with
George Allen &Unwin Ltd.

1993
Published by ISIS Books
Large Print Edition

1995
HarperCollins Publishers
First Printing of the Reset "FifthUK Edition"

1997
The Folio Society
Illustrated by Eric Fraser
Folio "Second Edition"

1997
Houghton Mifflin Company
First Printing, Illustrated by Alan Lee Alan Lee illustrations, 60th anniversaryedition, 1997

1997
HarperCollins Publishers
Limited Edition of 250,
Illustrated by Alan Lee

1999
HarperFestival (a division of HarperCollins)
First Printing, illustrated by John Howe

1999
HarperCollinsPublishers
First Printing, Second Deluxe Edition
(Cloth slipcase)

1999
HarperCollins Publishers
First paperback printing of the 1995 Reset edition
Cover illustration by John Howe "

2000
HarperCollins Publishers
Dealerfield Ltd. First Printing

2001
HarperCollins Publishers
Childrens Edition, illustrated by David Wyatt

2001
HarperCollins Publishers
Second Printing, Second Deluxe Edition
(Leatherette slipcase)

2001
Science Fiction Book Club/Houghton Mifflin Company
Cover illustration by Donato

2001
Houghton MifflinCompany
Cover illustration by Peter Sis

2001
Ballantine Books
Third Printing, illustrated by David Wenzel
Cover illustration by Min Choi &Donato Giancola

2002
Houghton Mifflin Company
First Printing, Revised Edition

2002
Published in Cascades byCollins Educational,
an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

2003
The Folio Society
Limited Edition of 1750, illustrated by Eric Fraser
Folio "Second Edition" Seventh Printing

2003
HarperCollins Publishers
Large Print Edition

2003
Thorndike Press
LargePrint Basic Series

2003
Thorndike Press
Large Print Family Edition

How many versions of The Hobbit are there?

The Hobbit is a series of three epic high fantasy adventure films directed by Peter Jackson. The films are subtitled An Unexpected Journey (2012), The Desolation of Smaug (2013), and The Battle of the Five Armies (2014).

Which version of The Hobbit book is best?

Why are there two versions of The Hobbit?

Tolkien explained the two different versions in the introduction of The Lord of the Rings, as well as inside "The Shadow of the Past", as a "lie" that Bilbo made up, probably because of the One Ring's influence on him, and which he originally wrote down in his book.

What is the difference between The Hobbit and The Hobbit Enhanced edition?

The Hobbit Extended Edition is a version of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit film trilogy. These versions have new editing, scenes, special effects and music, and also more scenes and content than the theatrical versions. An Unexpected Journey contains 13 minutes of additional footage.

Why is The Hobbit written differently?

Tolkien intended The Hobbit as a "fairy-story" and wrote it in a tone suited to addressing children although he said later that the book was not specifically written for children but had rather been created out of his interest in mythology and legend.

How many first editions of The Hobbit are there?

The Hobbit, First Edition, First Impression. One of only 1,500 copies printed for the first publication of the author's first novel.