The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien - 1987 Anniversary Super De Luxe Limited Edition, No. 191 of 500

Unwin Hyman, London, 1987; fiftieth-anniversary super deluxe edition, number 191 of 500 copies, ISBN 0-04-440091-8.

Published to mark fifty years since the first appearance of The Hobbit on 21 September 1937, this is the most restricted and lavishly produced British anniversary edition. Copy 191 is one of 500 numbered copies; only numbers 1-100 were signed by Christopher Tolkien, so this copy is correctly described as numbered but unsigned.

The volume is bound in publisher's full dark-green morocco, with Tolkien's monogram in gilt within a ruled gilt panel on the upper board, gilt lettering and rules to the spine, and Smaug stamped in blind on the lower board. It has all edges gilt, patterned silk endpapers and a dark-green ribbon marker, and is housed in the original green cloth-covered slipcase.

Christopher Tolkien's special foreword reproduces pages from the surviving manuscript of The Hobbit, further drawings and extracts from Tolkien's letters. The book contains Thror's Map and the Map of Wilderland, Tolkien's five colour illustrations, and the eight familiar black-and-white illustrations coloured by H.E. Riddett.

Condition:
A very good, complete example. The binding remains clean and sound, with the commonly encountered fading of the green morocco at the spine to brown and light surface wear visible in the photographs. The gilt remains strong, the gilded edges and silk endpapers are well preserved, and the limitation label, ribbon marker and original slipcase are present. The ribbon tip is frayed, and there are a few small marks on the limitation label. The slipcase shows light age and handling wear.

The photographs show the exact copy sold. This listing is retained as an archive record.

A scarce and imposing centrepiece: one of just 500 copies of the definitive 1987 Anniversary Super De Luxe Hobbit, complete in its original slipcase.