Robert Foster's Teacher's Guide to the Hobbit

Here is photo.

Mine doesn’t…..see photo of cover and also of last page where it states the ISBN.

Thanks! I pulled my copy out yesterday to compare with a copy I saw for sale, and noticed there are some interesting differences.

Note that mine has the Darrel K. Sweet artist credit but Tolkien’s art on the cover instead.

NDJ wrote:

Mine doesn’t…..see photo of cover and also of last page where it states the ISBN.

Does your copy have a list of Tolkien books you can order? If so, can you post a picture of it? That helps me date these variations, thanks!

I’m trying to figure out why on the back cover it says “Essay: ‘Fantasy: A Mirror of Our Own World’” when the essay is actually called “The Uses of Fantasy”.

No, no list of books you can order in it.

NDJ wrote:

No, no list of books you can order in it.

Thanks! I think it likely that you have an early (perhaps first) printing, with no ISBN/price on the front. My "Bilbo comes to the huts of the raft elves" cover is a late variation, as the price list has (for example) the Hobbit at 3.95 (1985 and on). My Darrel Sweet cover has the price list with (for example) The Hobbit at $2.50 (1981 until 1984 when the price changed to $2.95)

All of them say "First edition: August 1981" so the copyright page doesn't indicate reprints at all.

As for the essay title, I am guessing that Foster (or an editor) changed the working title at some point, and never noticed (or perhaps cared) about the back cover. The essay itself says (bottom of page 8) "Thus, a fantasy world is inevitably a mirror of our own world...".

Cool. If you need any more info or photos let me know.

Here is the list of books available to order on mine: