The Hobbit or There and Back Again by J. R. R. Tolkien. Illustrated by the Author. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., Museum Street. 1946. ------------------- First edition fourth impression, one of the earliest obtainable editions of The Hobbit, published before any of the three Lord of the Rings books, with the beautiful colour frontispiece. ------------------- Size: 132 x 189 mm (approx.) Condition: [(2), h.t., frontis, t.p., 1ff., pp.11-310, 1ff., (1)] The first edition of the Hobbit in its original publisher's cloth binding with the novel title and decorative designs depicting a dragon and some mountains. Binding with minor wear, some marks to the front board, damp staining to the rear board, wear to extremities. Both boards securely attached with minor wear to joints and hinges. Shelf and edge wear. Shelf lean. Spine cocked. Corners lightly turned-in. Page edges toned. Ink marks to the top outer corner of the ffep. No attached bookplates. Text block very clean with light toning and occasional foxing, foxing more so to endpapers. Page block slightly cracked between pp.176 and pp.177, leaves securely attached. Damp staining to the bottom of the rear leaves, beginning at approx. pp.245 and increasing in prominence, with the more prominent damp staining to the rear board and the last few leaves, but generally a very attractive copy overall. Without the original dust jacket, as often. About WoodPaz Books: WoodPaz Books is an online antiquarian and rare book shop dedicated to great customer service and secure eco-friendly packaging. We know how frustrating it is to receive a book in sub-standard packaging, especially an expensive one! That's why every single one of our books is sent generously wrapped in bio-degradable bubblewrap housed in a sturdy cardboard box, irrespective of price. We mostly use Royal Mail, but occasionally use other providers for heavy orders, or orders for more than £2,500. Our books are stored in a temperature and humidity controlled environment in a smoke and pet free space, handled with the utmost care and attention. We really do strive for the accuracy of our descriptions and condition reports in each listing. We aim to mention all of the main areas of the condition: the spine, hinges, joints, boards, page edges, page block, etc. We are highly knowledgeable on books and love talking about them! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us. If you have any issues with any aspect of your order, please contact us first before leaving feedback and we will endeavour to rectify any issues. Our return rate is less than 1%, and many book-lovers swear by us as their source for luxury books. Thank you for considering us! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *We do not make any profit from the postage charge, this covers the cost of postage, insurance, and packaging. **International postage fees are entirely calculated by eBay's Global Shipping Program and are independent from us. Any fees resulting from the import/export of products purchased from WoodPaz Books Ltd are entirely the responsibility of the buyer. We are able to arrange a direct postage quote outside of eBay's GSP should you wish, just contact us prior to payment and we can arrange this which occasionally works out to be cheaper. [EORI Number: GB030632560000] ***We can combine postage/shipping when multiple listings/auctions are bought/won. This should be done automatically if they're all added to your eBay basket. However, if this doesn't happen contact us prior to payment and we can manually combine the postage for you. After payment has been made we are unable to make these changes for international orders - for UK orders we can usually combine this after payment has been made and refund the difference in postage costs. ****Most orders are dispatched the same day for collection the following day. Once orders are paid for we are unable to hold on to them and they will be sent to the address provided to us. As standard we allow up to 4 days for payment prior to cancellation. If you require longer for payment, please contact us in the first opportunity and we may be able to arrange for longer. WoodPaz Books LtdUK Registered Company Number: 15013487VAT Number: GB440816703 Registered Office Address:69a Barton Street, Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, GL20 5PY, United Kingdom. Books are housed and posted from an address in Herefordshire, UK.