The Hobbit Facsimile Gift Edition

[@sebastiansvitek4752]

Not sure if some of you noticed it too, but when I recently got myself a facsimile first edition of the Hobbit. And if you're familiar with the original 1937 dust-jacket typo, (for those who don't know, when the Hobbit first came out, there were only 1500 copies made, and all of them had a mistake, the mistake was on the back flap of the dust-jacket, it was a name; Dodgeson, and it is said that J.R.R. Tolkien himself corrected the typo on all the 1500 copies, Tolkien just crossed a tiny line on the letter e with his pen), so, the publisher's has probably decided to treat us a little bit with the facsimile edition, if you have it, then take a look at the text on the back flap of the dust-jacket, there's a sort of a reference to the original first edition, the name Dodgeson has the letter e crossed (it's more of a black dot covering the letter e). To me it's a really nice reference and pretty cool.

[@chrimarnz]

This is the first time Tolkien's Lecture on Dragons (originally to children in 1938) has been published in full. Arguably, the booklet is as collectible as the facsimile of The Hobbit itself.

[@shuboy05]

Incidentally the updated Riddles in the Dark was something Tolkien whipped up to show his publishers how he would update The Hobbit to connect to LotR but it was NOT something he planned on including at the time. When he didn't hear back from them, Tolkien assumed the issue was dropped. However when he was sent galley proofs of a new edition of The Hobbit, he noticed the new version of the chapter. Apparently there was a misunderstanding at Allen & Unwin that caused the chapter's insertion and Tolkien just rolled with it.

[@Robb-jf7vg]

Released in 2017, I never even heard about it until just weeks ago! And I immediately ordered myself a copy. It is a VERY NICE set, and a fine addition to anyone's collection.

[@ofgodzeus]

I enjoyed this video so very much! thank you! I can't wait to see the rest!

[@7554EdwardG]

Great review and thanks for the detailed guide. Saw this on Amazon but your video is a much better guide, as Amazon (or their customers) lump together reviews for separate editions against the same edition! Looks like great value.

[@trobertw]

Beautiful. I grew up on the movies. When I first read LOTR I remember being very surprised learning about the two versions of the Hobbit, and how tolkein addressed this in-universe by having Bilbo tell Frodo how and why he went back and changed "From there and back again"

[@-johnny-deep-]

For the love of all things Tolkien, you should always show a close-up of the binding so we can see whether it's sewn or glued!

[@TalkingTolkien]

I get that a lot. In later videos I do make an effort to cater to this peculiar kink.

[@-johnny-deep-]

@@TalkingTolkien Kink? The binding is a major part of what makes a book well made or not. Well, glad your later videos try to show it.

[@charliemaddock3459]

Absolutely beautiful I’m just looking online my local book store has it it’s 100$ Australian glad you just showed the holographic front as it’s not described on the bookshops website

[@stu356]

FYI - Regarding the colour of the boards, the first facsimile print by Rotolito from a couple of years earlier had blue/green boards (which were incorrect). The RR Donnelly reprint used in the gift box (and subsequent slipcase reprints) corrected this to the green used on the copy in your video. It was just a mistake that wasn't noticed until after they were printed. Unfortunately some copies of the original fade to a blue/green and that is what HC had followed.

[@leighhaynes]

Yes, I can confirm this. I just ordered the slipcase edition from Amazon UK and did indeed receive the v2 printing by RR Donnelley. This has the correct green cloth just like the gift edition in this video, rather than the previous blue-green cloth. Now the slipcase, cloth and page edge dye all match. Perhaps the Rotalito printings will become a collector's item in themselves!

[@stu356]

@@leighhaynes You never know, but there were 4,000 copies of the first print, so maybe not. A subset of the first print are misbound with the front map at the rear and vice-versa. This was caused by the paper being loaded into the machine wrongly. Not sure how many are like this (definitely quite a few - I have one in a box somewhere), but it does reduce the number of "correct" first prints a bit.

[@jubalvw3302]

I ordered this a while ago and in Canada I'll have to wait until AUGUST :'( You're so lucky to have yours already!!!

[@JaspersDadders]

Bought a copy of this on the strength of this unboxing! Cheers!

[@ThasmoFrost]

Hi there! I just started to collect Tolkien works two weeks ago and my collection is growing almost every day! Would someone mind explaining to me what facsimile is?

[@truestorybro6639]

It's a print copy of something original - signatures, maps, or an original of The Hobbit edition in this case

[@SaintNicholasFan]

Is the binding sewn or glued?

[@salmanhyder1655]

Ordered! Coming in the mail.

[@chrisisbookinit]

Have you ever taken a look at the Annotated Hobbit? Interested in your thoughts!

[@TalkingTolkien]

Yes, there is a new edition due out next March so I've been waiting for that. Will hopefully have a look at it then!

[@chrisisbookinit]

@@TalkingTolkien Ooh! I didn’t know there was a new one incoming! I better budget accordingly!

[@garym6315]

I'm guessing the CD version of Riddles in the Dark is the revised chapter from the reissued version of the book if he recorded it in the 50s? I'm also guessing that it's the whole chapter since it's almost 30 minutes long? If so, that's actually pretty awesome giving you the original 1930s version of the book but with the 50's revised chapter included as a bonus feature! Not only a bonus, but actually read by the author! Was that chapter the only part that was changed with the reissue?

[@askeide5890]

Great video and great channel! However, it would be helpful if you could show some of the illustrations (I believe this one is illustrated by Tolkien?) or at least comment on it :)

[@ipoulter9765]

Would you say it’s worth getting the facsimile set or just the book ?

[@PleaseNThankYou]

Please reply ... I went online and find this Gift edition via a local big box store called Wal-Mart, but it has Andy Series doing a reading of the Hobbit but none of the reviews make note of the book being included at all ! I'm confused as the pictures of the offering show exactly what YOU have opened in this video.

[@TalkingTolkien]

I'm sorry I can't help - I'm in the UK and this was published by HarperCollins, who don't publish in the US. I'm not sure what the US versions have I'm afraid.

[@basse9914]

How is the spine? Is it glued/stitched, or just glued?

[@StanleyVB_20]

I checked a copy. It is certainly glued because there is some glossy material that can be seen when looking at the book top down. However one can also see that the pages are grouped in to thirteen batches and when flipping through them one can see what appears like stitching every 2cm. Hope that helps.

[@Crimsonwolf1923]

Is there something with the same art/set for LOTR tril. ?

[@TalkingTolkien]

Unfortunately not. The closest is this set with Tolkien's original artwork on the covers. Maybe for the 70th anniversary in 2024?! www.harpercollins.co.uk/9780007581146/the-lord-of-the-rings-boxed-set/

[@Crimsonwolf1923]

Thx for answering. I'll just buy the 2014 hardcover special ed. and call it a day

[@lukasweidinger6839]

it is a really lovely edition but £35 for a book printed and bound in China? :/

[@zacspearman]

I̶f̶ When they do another adaptation of The Hobbit/LOTR for film (probably television) (not the incoming Amazon series), an animation in the style of Tolkien's artwork would be great. Also that lenticular image on the box reminds me of an 8-bit game.

[@pasalasaga]

Like the up coming War of Rohirrim movie?

[@Karnegon]

Is the binding sewn or glued (perfect binding)? I have another facsimile version and it's very disappointing that its binding is just glued, I won't even dare to read it and risk having the pages falling.

[@stu356]

The pages really aren't going to fall out with one careful reading.

[@Karnegon]

@@stu356 thank you

[@zayan6284]

Can you differentiate between a genuine first edition or a reprint, such as this?

[@TalkingTolkien]

Yeah I wondered this when it first came out. Apparently the biggest difference is the paper quality, which on an original would be much thicker and better quality. And a few manufacturing differences that have changed in the last 80 years like the binding. So no chance of ripping out the copyright page and pretending it's an original!

[@Via_The_Void]

The real first edition is actually a darker shade of green, at least going by some of the books I've seen for sale on eBay or maybe they've just faded a bit with age.