2nd Edition UK Hobbit Dustjacket Flaps - Announcing LOTR
14 Aug, 2023
(edited)
2023-8-14 11:50:42 PM UTC
2023-8-14 11:50:42 PM UTC
I did a little exercise (thanks to Alan Reynolds) and outlined the progression of notable changes made to the rear dustjacket flap for the UK Second Edition Hobbit (focused mostly on the 1951 5th Impression through the 1957 9th Impression) which shows the insertion of advertising for the release of The Lord of the Rings.
Image 1
1951 5th Impression
Pre The Lord of the Rings. The front flap (not shown) had words on the plot of the Hobbit and some notes on Tolkien which spilled over to this rear flap. Then the list of press opinions appears.
Image 2
1954 6th Impression
First announcement of The Lord of the Rings. The press opinions were moved to the front flap (not shown) and the The Lord of the Rings in preparation is added to the rear flap.
Image 3
1955 7th Impression
Book format and pricing for The Lord of the Rings is added to the rear flap.
Image 4
1956 8th Impression
The book format and pricing for The Lord of the Rings were removed from the rear flap.
Image 5
1957 9th Impression
Format and pricing returns! And from this 9th Impression through the 1965 15th Impression (the end of the Hobbit Second Edition print run), the flap has a few minor changes in formatting. (Notably, the only price increase for The Lord of the Rings appears in the 1965 15th Impression…10 years after the initial price was added to the 7th Impression.)
And as a side note, regarding the US Second Edition Hobbits, the progression of changes to the rear flap mostly follows the UK changes except no book format and price were added to the rear flap until the 1959 11th printing (and then it was the British pricing of “21s net each”…not US dollars/cents). That continued unchanged through the 1963 14th and final printing of the US Second Edition.
Image 1
1951 5th Impression
Pre The Lord of the Rings. The front flap (not shown) had words on the plot of the Hobbit and some notes on Tolkien which spilled over to this rear flap. Then the list of press opinions appears.
Image 2
1954 6th Impression
First announcement of The Lord of the Rings. The press opinions were moved to the front flap (not shown) and the The Lord of the Rings in preparation is added to the rear flap.
Image 3
1955 7th Impression
Book format and pricing for The Lord of the Rings is added to the rear flap.
Image 4
1956 8th Impression
The book format and pricing for The Lord of the Rings were removed from the rear flap.
Image 5
1957 9th Impression
Format and pricing returns! And from this 9th Impression through the 1965 15th Impression (the end of the Hobbit Second Edition print run), the flap has a few minor changes in formatting. (Notably, the only price increase for The Lord of the Rings appears in the 1965 15th Impression…10 years after the initial price was added to the 7th Impression.)
And as a side note, regarding the US Second Edition Hobbits, the progression of changes to the rear flap mostly follows the UK changes except no book format and price were added to the rear flap until the 1959 11th printing (and then it was the British pricing of “21s net each”…not US dollars/cents). That continued unchanged through the 1963 14th and final printing of the US Second Edition.
Doing this little bit of personal research I reminded myself of how long it took Allen&Unwin to increase the price of each volume of LOTR from “21s net each” to “25s net each” (almost 10 years.)
And then the unevenly printed price change on the LOTR front dustjacket flaps when they did increase the price (see the images showing a 1963 10th Impression ROTK and then an 1965 11th Impression ROTK).
And then the unevenly printed price change on the LOTR front dustjacket flaps when they did increase the price (see the images showing a 1963 10th Impression ROTK and then an 1965 11th Impression ROTK).
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