The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, by J.R.R. Tolkien. Published by Allen & Unwin in 1955.

Original Cloth, Very Good / Good Original Dust Jacket.

A superb copy of an early printing of The Hobbit.
The 1955, 7th overall printing, or the 3rd printing of the 2nd Edition (1955).

A Very Good book in a Good dust jacket, with light soiling and fading, wear at the corners and edges, and small chips and tears. The reverse of the jacket is browned and spotted.

The dustjacket shows beautifully, with some loss at the tips of the folds and edges.
The stated 8th impression dustjacket is original to the book, and has protected it well over the years.
The 8th impression Allen and Unwin jackets were delivered to the binder at the same time that the last 1000 copies of the 7th impression were being bound, so it would appear they were used instead of the correct 7th impression jackets. They were supposed to be price-clipped and overprinted with a new price of 12s.6d. Still this jacket is not price clipped and still shows "9s 6d. net", to the front flap.
The book is stated 7th impression on title verso, one of 2,502 printed (UK).

The text block is generally clean, with light age-toning, bound in the green colored original cloth, stamped in dark blue, from the publisher.
Shows minor shelf wear and rubbing, with slightly bumped corners. A beautiful clean bright copy, only slightly marked or faded, still has the green top stain.

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, red and black ink still show clear and bright against the endpapers, with no foxing.
Small Foyles sticker on the first map. Written note to previous owner from 1956 (birthday gift from daddy) on first free pages.

A beautiful copy, scarce in original dustjacket in any condition.

A 1955 seventh-impression Hobbit with its unclipped eighth-impression jacket, a Foyles label and a 1956 birthday inscription.

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