The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (2nd Edition, 10th Impression)

Author: Tolkien, J.R.R. 
Title: The Hobbit, or There and Back Again 
Publisher: George Allen & Unwin 
Date: 1958 
Place: London 
Dimensions: 8vo 19cm x 13cm 

315pp+ i (pub ads). 
Second edition, tenth impression, as stated on the colophon - i.e. 10th overall printing.

By the convention - one that the publisher, Unwin, would later adopt for this title - of listing edition and then the impression of that edition, this would be the 2nd edition, 6th impression.

Green cloth boards, 9 b/w illustrations, a colour frontispiece, red and black endpaper maps and the iconic colour dust jacket, all illustrated by Tolkien.

Condition: Very Good
Uneven sunning to the spine, where the jacket has been repaired. A small bump to bottom edge of the lower board. A touch of pencil underlining/marginalia, a small handful of blue ink underlining and annotations/single word ‘criticism’ e.g “weak” and “mean”. The first two signatures protrude slightly from the fore-edge, otherwise square and without any lean. Touches of spotting and toning throughout, but not unsightly.

Jacket Condition: Good Plus 
The head of the jacket spine professionally repaired using Japanese tissue to the verso. There is a 3cm x 2.5cm ovoid tide mark to the foot of the spine, clearly visible on the verso, but only showing mildly on the recto. Small chips to the folds and edges, a bit of rubbing to the fold rectos. 

In September 1947, while writing The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien sent his English publisher some corrections to be included in future printings, as well as a ‘specimen of re-writing’ of chapter 5 of The Hobbit, bringing it in line with its sequel, The Lord of the Rings, as he had developed it up to that point. In 1951, upon receiving the proofs for a new printing that would become the second edition of The Hobbit, Tolkien wrote to the publisher: “...I never heard any more about it at all; and I assumed that alteration of the original book was ruled out. The sequel now depends on the earlier version; and if the revision is really published, there must follow some considerable rewriting of the sequel. I did not mean the suggested revision to be printed off; but it seems to have come out pretty well in the wash” and agreed to incorporate it, despite having to rewrite parts of The Lord of the Rings. A few minor errors were corrected between the 5th impression of 1951 and this, the 10th of 1958. (Hammond, 1993: A3c)

4500 copies of this impression are thought to have been printed 
(TolkienBooks.net, citing the Allen & Unwin Archive)

An attractive copy, in solidly good shape, of probably the most desirable and famous work of modern fantasy.