The Hobbit

First published in 1937, this novel follows Bilbo Baggins, a comfort-loving hobbit of the Shire, who is hired by the wizard Gandalf and thirteen dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield to help reclaim a treasure from the dragon Smaug in the Lonely Mountain. The journey east runs through trolls, goblins, wolves, elves of Mirkwood, and the town of Lake-men; Bilbo finds a ring in a cave and bargains with a creature there. The book is a children's quest story of burglary, pride, and a contested hoard, not the later war of the Ring.

Quarter bound in brown leather, brown canvas boards with a design in dark brown by Jeff Clements. Map endleaves. Mottled brown and black slipcase. George Allen & Unwin for the Folio Society.