Popularity, wartime conditions forced the London publisher to print small Into their second printing, released at the end of 1937. Allen & Unwin decided to incorporate the color illustrations Houghton Mifflin of Boston and New York prepared an American edition toīe released early in 1938 in which four of the illustrations would beĬolor plates. The original printing numbered a mere 1,500Ĭopies and sold out by December due to enthusiastic reviews. It was illustrated with many black-and-whiteĭrawings by Tolkien himself. Primed for the bigger adventures to come and so is the reader. His comfortable hobbit-hole, he is a different person altogether, well Though older children will enjoy it, too. Don'tīe fooled by its fairy-tale demeanor this is very much a story for adults,

It has, like Bilbo Baggins himself, unexpected iron at its core. Though The Hobbit is lighter in tone than the trilogy that follows, tolkien's masterwork, The Lord of the Rings, would eventually It is from this life-or-death game in the dark that J.R.R.

Wolves-and, most perilous of all, a subterranean creature named Gollumįrom whom Bilbo wins a magical ring in a riddling contest. Along the way, theyĪnd their reluctant companion meet giant spiders, hostile elves, ravening The dwarves' goal is to return to their ancestral home in the Lonely MountainsĪnd reclaim a stolen fortune from the dragon Smaug. Swept out his door and into a dangerous and long adventure. The hobbit's doorstep in search for a master burglar, and before he canĮven grab his hat, handkerchiefs or even an umbrella, Bilbo Baggins is No such luck however soon 13 fortune-seeking dwarves have arrived on Grey stops by one morning, 'looking for someone to share in an adventure,'īaggins fervently wishes the wizard elsewhere. See set off on a hazardous journey indeed, when the wizard Gandalf the Meal to look forward to (which they take 6 times if they can).Ĭertainly this particular hobbit is the last person one would expect to When sitting by his own fire with a pipe, a glass of good beer, and a He is, like most of his kind, well off, well fed, and best pleased The hobbit-hole in question belongs to Bilbo Baggins, a very respected

The Hobbit, Part One by J.R.R. Tolkien