The Hobbit
J.R.R. Tolkien
1951 Second Edition (Revised), 5th Printing
Houghton Mifflin Company
Boston
ISBN: N/A
Hardcover in dust-jacket
316 pp.*
Illustrated by J.R.R. Tolkien
Hammond Page Ref.: p. 24
Tolkien Collector Ref.: Issue no. 30, pp. 16-32 (Frisby)
Notes
Revised and partly reset. Typeset based on the Allen & Unwin 1937 First Edition, 4th Impression (1946).
Published Spring, 1951 (preceding the publication of the Allen & Unwin Second Edition on July 19, 1951) (The Tolkien Collector, Issue no. 24, p. 27).
Print numbers were continued on following the first four impressions of the Allen & Unwin First Edition:
5th Printing (5a): 1951 – 1,000 copies^
5th Printing (5b): 1951 – 726 copies^
6th Printing: 1954 – 1,000 copies
7th Printing: 1955 – 1,000 copies
8th Printing: 1956 – 1,000 copies
9th Printing: 1957 – 1,000 copies
10th Printing: 1958 – 2,500 copies
11th Printing: 1959 – 2,500 copies
12th Printing: 1961 – 2,500 copies
13th Printing: November, 1961 – 2,500 copies
14th Printing: March, 1963 – 4,000 copies
From the 5th until the 14th Printing, Houghton Mifflin imported sheets from Allen & Unwin (all printings include a color frontispiece by Tolkien, The Hill: Hobbiton-across-the Water). Therefore the above dates correspond with the printing history from the 1951 Allen & Unwin Second Edition.
^ Two variants of the 5th Printing were issued:
5a. Title page and dust-jacket spine** state ‘Houghton Mifflin Company’, the copyright page lacks a printing history and there is no colophon on the last page. Published 1951.
5b. Title page and dust-jacket spine** state ‘George Allen & Unwin’, printing history on copyright page and colophon on last page are present. Published 1953.
Determining the print number within the Second Edition can be achieved by examining various characteristics. Helpful indicators include the statement of the print number on the dust-jacket*** (seen on all except variant 5a) and the color of the book. This table can help to pinpoint a Second Edition printing (the book in question must meet all identifying criteria given for that specific printing):
| Printing Number | Identifiers |
| 5th Printing (5a) | Bound identically to British edition (but with ‘Houghton Mifflin’ at base of spine). Copyright page lacks print history. |
| 5th Printing (5b) | Bound identically to British edition (but with ‘Houghton Mifflin’ at base of spine). Copyright page shows print history. |
| 6th Printing | Turquoise cloth. Copyright page states printer: “Unwin Brothers Ltd., Woking & London”. Title page states publisher/printer in two lines (as opposed to the three lines in all subsequent printings). |
| 7th Printing | Khaki or rust brown cloth. Page 49 has signature mark ‘C’. Page 20, line 6: ‘e’ in “the” is unclipped. |
| 8th Printing | Rust brown cloth. Page 49 has signature mark ‘C’. Page 20, line 6: ‘e’ in “the” is clipped. Page 223, line 26: first letter ‘p’ in “peep”, tail is unclipped. |
| 9th Printing | Teal cloth. Page 49 has signature mark ‘C’. Page 20, line 6: ‘e’ in “the” is clipped. Page 223, line 26: ‘p’ in “peep”, tail is clipped. |
| 10th Printing | Light green cloth. Table of Contents has signature mark “A*”. Copyright page lacks print history. ‘The Adventures of Tom Bombadil’ not advertised on reverse of half-title page. Page 181, line 3, last word “and”: ‘d’ is unbroken. |
| 11th Printing | Light green cloth. Copyright page shows print history. |
| 12th Printing | Light green cloth. Copyright page shows print history. |
| 13th Printing | Slate blue cloth. Table of Contents has signature mark ‘A*’. Copyright page lacks print history. ‘The Adventures of Tom Bombadil’ not advertised on reverse of half-title page. Page 181, line 3, last word “and”: ‘d’ is broken. |
| 14th Printing | Saturated medium green cloth. ‘The Adventures of Tom Bombadil’ is advertised on reverse of half-title page. |
The identifying features listed above are only useful for the quick confirmation of a printing. It is important to keep in mind that, for various reasons, binding color and type damage cannot be considered conclusive evidence. The discerning collector will want to verify with a more thorough examination. For detailed information see Early American editions of The Hobbit by Daan Strebe and ‘Identifying First and Second Edition Printings of the Houghton Mifflin Hobbit’ by Steven M. Frisby (a very useful guide printed in the The Tolkien Collector, Issue no. 30, pp. 16-32 in October, 2009). Further information can also be found at TolkienBooks.net.
The runes bordering the dust-jacket read: ‘THE HOBBIT OR THERE AND BACK AGAIN BEING THE RECORD OF A YEARS JOURNEY MADE BY BILBO BAGGINS OF HOBBITON COMPILED FROM HIS MEMOIRS BY J.R.R. TOLKIEN AND PUBLISHED BY GEORGE ALLEN AND UNWIN LTD’. The incorrect publisher’s name was corrected to ‘HOUGHTON MIFFLIN AND CO‘ for the 19th Printing.
RRP: $2.50 (dust-jackets do not have a printed price).
*12th, 13th, 14th Printings: 320 pp.
**Allen & Unwin dust-jackets from their 5th Printing were used for variant 5b. All copies seen have been price-clipped. (One copy of variant 5b has been seen in a variant 5a style dust-jacket. It may be that some leftover 5a jackets were used on copies of 5b.)
***Print statements on jackets are helpful but ultimately unreliable and not only because a jacket can be swapped out by an owner. Publishers have been known to use up leftover jackets on a new printing or use a new run of jackets for a surplus of a previous printing.