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By Jlong
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1955 Hobbit Question

9 Dec, 2016
2016-12-9 4:55:56 AM UTC

So I recently bought this 1955 Hobbit on eBay:
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Seller: dave-a-reno
(609)
Ended Dec 2, 2016
This item ended more than 90 days ago

(Seemed like a decent price.)

I had a question about the dust jacket.

It is a 7th impression book with an 8th impression jacket.

Tolkienbooks states, "Jackets printed by J. Howell*

  • 2,860 Allen & Unwin jackets were printed. The Houghton Mifflin jackets were printed late in August as they were not ordered with the folded and collated copies. Over 2,000 were printed, with half being held over for the next impression of the book."

So if I'm understanding this footnote correctly, this is one of the copies that was "held over for the next impression of the book."

Thanks in advance for the clarification.

Josh
9 Dec, 2016
2016-12-9 6:57:12 AM UTC
My 7th impression does have a 7th impression dust-jacket, but I have seen quite a few copies like yours that are in the 8th impression dust-jacket, and some also have a higher price 12s6d, so quite a few original states for the dust-jackets exist.
9 Dec, 2016
2016-12-9 9:34:37 AM UTC
I think you got quite a good deal for that Hobbit.
9 Dec, 2016
2016-12-9 7:08:03 PM UTC
I have checked back on my notes used to compile the Hobbit article.
The 2000 jackets mentioned were Houghton Mifflin not Allen & Unwin - I have amended the wording to clarify.
The 8th impression A&U 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.
9 Dec, 2016
2016-12-9 7:47:47 PM UTC

Deagol wrote:
I have checked back on my notes used to compile the Hobbit article.
The 2000 jackets mentioned were Houghton Mifflin not Allen & Unwin - I have amended the wording to clarify.
The 8th impression A&U 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.

Do you have any idea how many 7th impression jackets were price-clipped and had 12s.6d net overprinted and how many 8th impression jackets were price-clipped and had 12s.6d net overprinted?

10_584b0a3d3e6ad.jpg 570X428 px
10 Dec, 2016
2016-12-10 1:13:37 AM UTC
Thanks all for the feedback. Seems like it has sparked an interesting discussion. Glad to listen in.
10 Dec, 2016
2016-12-10 10:51:57 AM UTC

Trotter wrote:

Do you have any idea how many 7th impression jackets were price-clipped and had 12s.6d net overprinted and how many 8th impression jackets were price-clipped and had 12s.6d net overprinted?

There are two entries in the A&U ledger for overprinting Hobbit jackets in 1956. One for 1260 jackets at a cost of £1.18s.6d and another for an unspecified number for £2.9s.
There is also a letter to the binders dated 17th January 1956 asking for the price to be changed on the 7th impression copies being bound at that time and on the 8th impression jackets that had just been delivered. Judging from copies seen online, at least some copies slipped through without being overprinted, but I don't think it is possible to say how many.
11 Dec, 2016
2016-12-11 7:53:31 AM UTC
If the price paid to the printers was the same, then £2.9s.0d would have been 1600 copies overprinted by the binders.

If I read Deagol's notes correctly, then these would be 8th impression dust-jackets, so 1600 out of 3150 is possibly a good guess, nearly 50%.

Thanks a lot Deagol for your excellent research into this
11 Dec, 2016
2016-12-11 6:02:25 PM UTC
Thanks!
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