THE HOBBIT1937 FIRST EDITION, 2ND IMPRESSIONJ.R.R. TOLKIENPLEASE VIEW OUR EBAY STORE WHICH IS NEATLY ORGANIZED FOR A GREAT BROWSING EXPERIENCE! George Allen & Unwin, London, 1937First Edition, First Printing, Second Impression, 1937 : A near fine very clean copy in the ORIGINAL EXTREMELY SCARCE DUST JACKET, NOT PRICE CLIPPED.The first printing 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 First Printing was the only printing in which all the artistic illustration plates are in black and white. The second impression was printed in December the same year in an edition of 2300 copies (423 of which were destroyed at the warehouse of the binder, Key and Whiting, in the bombing of London on November 7th 1940) and was the first printing to convert four of the author’s black and white illustration plates to color. These were initially commissioned for and later published in the American edition. [Hammond A3a.] Please note – Currently only two first printings (in the original dust jacket) are listed today, both listed for upwards and $200,000.00 and up; and currently there is not a second printing in the original dust jacket listed.A lovely near fine clean book. The boards are without the common fraying or brittleness. Instead the cloth is all present, and in supple condition, overall clean with some very slight age toning to the cloth. The book has sharp corners, one lightly pushed, and a square tight binding. The original decorative map end papers are present and clean and bright. The book is in beautiful clean condition with no bookplates, no owner names, no handling marks, no stains, no bent pages, one small original bookstore sticker to lower front end paper. Lightly foxed to the outer page block. A remarkably clean book in excellent collectible condition. Please see all the images.The exceedingly scarce original dust jacket is present and NOT price clipped (of the few remaining second printing jackets most tend to be price clipped). The jacket has benefited from some restoration by an expert paper conservator to several intact tears (one larger, one smaller), and a small 3/4 inch triangular chip to the upper white area of front panel (located in between the two birds). The jacket presents beautifully with strong vibrant colors and with but some slight toning to the white area of the front panel and with slight sunning to the spine (as common with this title). The dust jacket is NOT price clipped and has a stated price of 7s 6d. net, along with the requisite “Second Impression” stated just above the price on the inner flap. Please see numerous detailed images.A superb first edition, second printing in very clean condition. All images available in high resolution format upon request.Shipping via UPS Express, direct delivery and signed for with full insurance.This book is part of a collection. Please see our stores for other rare book listings.Please note the cost to ship includes full insurance. Insurance is calculated at the rate of $1.00 per $100 of value and will show up as a handling fee on your invoice but is only the cost to ensure your book in transit.