James and Georgina at Lucius Books sent along these interesting tidbits as a part of their latest offerings:



Tolkien, J. R. R.: THE HOBBIT or There and Back Again London: George Allen and Unwin. 1937 [6421]
First edition, first printing. Original cloth in dustwrapper. A VERY GOOD copy showing a little rubbing and minor pushing to the spine tips and corners. The cloth is bright and without heavy soiling. The text block is clean and tight, without the foxing of the pages normally expected of this title although the text block edges are a little dusty. There are no inscriptions however there is a faint diagonal crease to the the prelims. Complete with the original and correct FIRST ISSUE dustwrapper with ink correction to the rear flap as called for. The wrapper is lightly chipped to the edges and spine tips with some minor removable restoration using waterbased glue and archival paper. Loss to the bottom corner of the rear flap and the original publisher’s price of 7s 6d net has been clipped from the front flap. Shows well. £14,500
The first edition of The Hobbit was issued on 21st September 1937 with a print run of only 1500 copies. The book was an immediate success and sold out within months. The second printing hurriedly issued in an edition of 2300 copies in December the same year. Since first publication The Hobbit has never been out of print, selling in excess of 60 million copies in a multitude of languages.




Tolkien, J. R. R. (illustrated by Roger Garland): THE ADVENTURES OF TOM BOMBADIL London: Unwin Hyman Limited. 1990 [6383]
First edition thus. HARDCOVER issue. Original cloth in dustwrapper. A lovely FINE copy with no inscriptions or stamps, the paper tanning to the edges. Complete with the FINE original dustwrapper, not price-clipped. Issued simultaneously in paperback (10,000 copies) and hardback (only 1,000 copies). This is the first edition with illustrations by Roger Garland. £125
(Hammond A6c).



Tolkien, J. R. R. (illustrated by Roger Garland): FARMER GILES OF HAM London: Unwin Hyman Limited. 1990 [6384]
First edition thus. HARDCOVER issue. Original cloth in dustwrapper. A lovely FINE copy with no inscriptions or stamps, the paper tanning to the edges. Complete with the FINE original dustwrapper, not price-clipped. Issued simultaneously in paperback (10,000 copies) and hardback (only 1,000 copies). This is the first edition with illustrations by Roger Garland. £125
(Hammond A4f).