The Hobbit: Illustrated by the Author

Product Information

It's worth remembering that the US ( William Morrow) releases have only been the trade / standard hardback initially, with the deluxe version coming out a year later. If you would prefer a smaller paperback edition designed for young people, I would recommend this one. For the first time ever this new enhanced edition includes a full gallery of associated artwork, and is published in the same format as recent editions of The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. On every double page spread, there is one small color illustration (sometimes 2), and there are also larger illustrations, each covering a double-page spread scattered here and there throughout the book. There’s The Lord of the Rings Illustrated, which came out in 2021, and The Silmarillion Illustrated, which arrived last autumn.

But the published art has afforded only a glimpse of Tolkien’s creative process, and many additional sketches, coloured drawings and maps – although exhibited and published elsewhere – have never appeared within the pages of The Hobbit. The pages of the book are of nice slick paper and the book does, indeed, live up to its billing as a special gift edition. Unique to this edition are two poster-size, fold-out maps revealing all the detail of Thror’s Map and Wilderland, an illustrated 88-page booklet, and a printed art card reproducing Tolkien’s original dustjacket painting. Along the way, he comes into possession of the One Ring, an accident that will have some pretty sizable consequences in the years to come, as told in The Lord of the Rings.The book will include 50 paintings, maps, and drawings made by Tolkien himself, and will be available in hardcover on September 14, alongside a beautiful Deluxe Illustrated Edition. I would recommend the following editions of the classic book not only for children and teensbut for whole families to enjoy together. The dramatic cover of the 75th-anniversary deluxe paperback edition of The Hobbit, which coordinates with the covers of new editions of the books in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy, will appeal to older readers who want to collect a set of all of the books, one at a time.

Speaking about this, Chris Smith from HarperCollins said: “ The tale of the little hobbit on a big adventure was first read by the professor to his children as part of their winter reads, using his ‘home manuscript’ of the story. Shaun regularly speaks about adaptations of Tolkien's works and the future of Tolkien scholarship whilst passionately believing the Society needs to reach out to new audiences. Hammond and Christina Scull add that, in this ‘home manuscript’, Tolkien would have been free to illustrate his story using any medium he wanted: coloured pencil, chalk, crayon, ink and washes, a far cry from the restrictions imposed by the publisher on the illustrations printed in the published book. This 304-page large (approximately 8" X 10") paperback edition works well as a read-aloud, particularly for younger children who sometimes need more visual reinforcement of the text. Originally published in 1937, The Hobbit has gone on to sell over 150 million copies over the years.It's also quarterbound in green leather, with raised ribs on the spine, stamped in three foils on black cloth boards, and housed in a custom-built clothbound slipcase. The book includes 50 paintings, maps, and drawings made by Tolkien himself, and will be available in hardcover tomorrow, September 19. I can't see HarperCollins breaking that practice with this release, nor can I see them releasing something just in the US under the William Morrow imprint that they don't release in the UK under the HarperCollins brand. Tolkien’s own selection of finished paintings and drawings have become inseparable from his text, adorning editions of The Hobbit for more than 85 years. In this unique enhanced edition of Tolkien’s enchanting classic tale, the full panoply of his art is reproduced for the first time, presenting a grand total of 50 illustrations to accompany Bilbo Baggins on his adventure ‘there and back again’.