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By Jlong
Home away from home

The Horn Book Magazine (excerpt from The Hobbit)

22 Apr, 2010
2010-4-22 4:27:46 AM UTC

I recently purchased a copy of this.

Does anyone else own a copy? I'm just trying to figure out how common it is because I couldn't find another copy for sale.

Any info or thoughts would be much appreciated.

Josh


It contains the following:

The Horn Book Magazine, May - June, 1938

Page 130, one paragraph, as follows:

The New York Herald Tribune's Prize and Honor Books. For the Second Annual Children's Festival, the Herald Tribune judges - Mrs. Dwight Morrow, Miss Mabel Williams, Mr. Stephen Vincent Benet, Mr. Robert Lawson and Mrs. May Lamberton Becker, Editor of the Herald Tribune's page, "Books for Young People" - have awarded one prize of $250 to J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit as the best book of the spring for younger children.

Page 141, two paragraphs, beginning with:

The Hobbit is another book to add to this group, and we close this Spring Festival number with its opening pages. Some children will read the book over and over, and some to whom it is read aloud will find it in their memories long hence.

Page 174, two paragraph as follows:

Should any one be in doubt as to the looks and ways of dwarfs let him turn to The Hobbit (Houghton, $2.50), the book awarded a prize at the recent Spring Festival of Children's Books as the best book published for younger children in 1938.

The Hobbit is good vacation reading for older children as well -- for any one with imagination and a zest for adventure. A rich book, and a rare, and a book to share, is The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, who sadly enough is a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford, which means that he may never find to write another children's book.

Page 184, excerpt of 5 pages from the beginning of The Hobbit

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22 Apr, 2010
2010-4-22 5:36:35 PM UTC
Just a quick question (out of curiosity): the cover of the attached photograph says "March-April, 1938", whereas the message text says "May-June, 1938".

A mistake, or is the photograph of another issue of the magazine?

Nonetheless, thanks for the info on this rare magazine!
22 Apr, 2010
2010-4-22 7:21:34 PM UTC
I was fortunate enough to buy a complete run of the Horn Book for 1938 a couple of years ago, and I can tell you it's not at all common (as far as I know).

To answer Morgan's question - Jlong's text is right; those page numbers refer to the May-June issue. There are a couple of mentions of TH in the March April issue, too. An advertisment appears on p.69, which includes CS Lewis's blurb 'Its place is with Alice in Wonderland and The Wind in the Willows... Prediction is dangerous, but The Hobbit may well prove a classic'.

On p.92 we have the comment by Anne Carol Moore:

'...and JRR Tolkien's 'The Hobbit' (Houghton), a refreshingly adventurous and original tale of dwarfs, goblins, elves, dragons, trolls, etc., in the true tradition of the old sagas. I think it is a mistake to compare The Hobbit with Alice or The Wind in the Willows. It is unlike either book. It is firmly rooted in Beowulf and authentic Saxon lore, and while appealing to younger children has something in common with W.W. Tarn's The Treasure of the Isle of Mist, and with certain tales by William Morris. There is sound learning behind The Hobbit, while a rich vein of humor connects this little being, smaller than a dwarf, with the strange beings of the ancient world and the world we live in today'.

Anne T. Eaton gives a review of the book on pp94-96 (with a black and white full-page reproduction of Tolkien's painting The Hill... on p.95). This lady makes a basic mistake;

'...Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit... is persuaded to leave his cosy hobbit-hole... It was his cousin, Gandalf the Wizard, who insisted that the hobbit should be a member of the party'...
22 Apr, 2010
2010-4-22 10:48:33 PM UTC
There is also a small mention/reference to the Hobbit in the 1938 July-August Issue on Page 232.

And in the 1938 November/December Issue, there is a few lines (Hobbit publication notice and price) on Page 365.
23 Apr, 2010
2010-4-23 1:55:29 AM UTC
We also have this, as part of a substantial run of the journal (1928-1975) we bought from a local public library that no longer had any interest in back issues.

Wayne & Christina
23 Apr, 2010
2010-4-23 1:59:03 AM UTC
Morgan,

My issue is the May - June, 1938 one; the picture is not of my issue. But the cover is identical, except for the date.

Thanks all for your comments.
23 Apr, 2010
2010-4-23 8:37:41 AM UTC
"There is also a small mention/reference to the Hobbit in the 1938 July-August Issue on Page 232."

Thanks, Remy - I'd missed that reference. 'Real literature' as Prof. Pedersen said.

24 Jun, 2010
2010-6-24 6:32:04 PM UTC
Just wondering does anyone know anything about a Red Slipcase that contains the 6 Horn Book Magazines from 1938?

I have attached photos.

The slipcase does not seem to fit the magazines perfectly and I wonder was the slipcase privately made (possibly by a reference library?) or would it have been issued by the magazine publisher?

Any information would by greatly appreciated?

11_4c23a47045467.jpg 800X1067 px

11_4c23a47d31e4e.jpg 640X853 px
25 Jun, 2010
2010-6-25 11:52:04 AM UTC
Looking at the pictures, the label would appear to have been produced by the Magazine Publisher and not by anyone else.

I expect that the publishers sold identical slipcases for all the different magazines they produced except for the labels affixed to them, which is why they don't seem to fit very well in the box.
26 Jun, 2010
2010-6-26 12:26:27 PM UTC
Thanks for your thoughts Trotter. Much Appreciated.

I too thought the Printed Label made it more likely that it was issued by the Publisher but then when I saw the fit of the magazines into the slipcase, I was not so sure.

I did have a search on the web (including the Horn Book Magazine's own webiste) but could not find any information. I am sure I will eventually find a definitive answer.

Many Thanks Again.
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