The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, by J.R.R. Tolkien.
The 1956 8th Impression with Dustjacket.

A Near Fine copy of an extremely scarce early Hobbit.
The 1956 printing, of the 2nd Edition (1951), or the 8th printing overall (1937).

This copy is a stated 8th impression from the dustjacket, published by Houghton Mifflin from sheets imported from Great Britain.
Stated 8th impression on front flap, not price clipped, noted as printed in Great Britain on the title verso.

One of probably only 1000 imported from Allen & Unwin, lacking the printing history on title verso, to help them circumvent the import restrictions and US copyright laws.
The book features the original dustjacket with the Mountains and Dragon design by the author.
The dustjacket shows some tanning to the spine and minor tanning or soiling to the white areas of the dustjacket.

The boards show no soiling or marking, no shelfwear to note.
The text block is clean, without foxing.
No previous owners names or markings.

No bumped corners, virtually without fault. The dustjacket is not price clipped, and has no price to the front flap.
It shows only the most minor of rubbing, with a very small amount of loss, to the top of the spine area.
The front panel has one closed tear to the top edge at the spine fold, and another to the bottom inside of the flap fold.

A bit of rubbing and loss of color to the spine fold of the front panel.
A small amount of rubbing and minor loss to the tips of the flap fold areas.

A beautiful clean copy, one of the copies with the dark brown boards stamped in blue, that are very hard to find.

Contains the full color frontispiece "The Hill: Hobbiton-across-the Water", as well as the original line drawings by Tolkien.
The maps are in excellent condition, with the red and black ink still showing clear and bright against the endpapers.
Both maps have no foxing, no marks, or previous owners names.

A highly collectable copy, hard to find in this Near Fine/Very Good Plus condition.



Digital photo's available, inquire if interested.

Other Tolkien books available, include both the UK and US editions, original cloth bindings, custom fine bindings, and Signed/Numbered/Limited Editions.