This list contains only complete, printed English-language editions of The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. It is not for derived or unprinted works such as screenplays, graphic novels, or audio books.
For this list, a printing is a separate edition if any of the following criteria is met:
The publisher declares it to be a new edition.
Substantial changes to the text have been introduced beyond correcting typographical errors.
A publisher prints the basic design for the first time.
The dust jacket or cover design has changed appreciably.
The height or width of the book has changed.
The binding materials have changed.
For this list, a printing is a variant of a separate edition if both it is not a separate edition itself and also any of the following criteria is met:
Inconspicuous marks or annotations declare it to be from a different publisher than an edition it is otherwise identical to (e.g., book club edition).
Some internal illustrations appear as color instead of black-and-white, or vice versa.
Some small change has been made in the design of the book or its binding or dust jacket without affecting the whole design.
A printing is 'not' a separate edition or variant solely because of any of the following:
Binding color changed.
Dust jacket color scheme changed but design remained the same.
Typographical errors were corrected.
Numbered pages means the page number of the last page of the story itself, regardless of whether the page number actually appears on the page. It does not include end papers or advertisement pages, even if they are numbered.
English language edition annotated for Russian students of English.
BCA Publishing edition of 1992. Quarterbound with gilded lettering on spine and raised ribbing.
Alan Lee illustrations, 60th anniversary edition, 1997
HarperCollins Alan Lee illustrations, 2000, published for Dealerfield Ltd. Pictorial laminated boards. Almost certainly just a variant of 1997 Alan Lee.
Michael Hague illustrations, hardcover
Unwin 4th edition
Del Rey paperback with cover matched to Peter Jackson's films
1999 HarperCollins DeLuxe edition
"Collins Modern Classics", Title on front shifted left of center
Thorndike Press Large Print Basic Series, 483 pages.
Unwin early 80s mass-market paperback with Smaug on his hoard, "The Hobbit" over a rust-colored background rectangle
Harper Collins Limited Editions Collectors' Box with CD, fold-out map, etc. 2000.
Unwin Hyman 1987 50th anniversary
Black softcover with red dragon at bottom on front and runes in circle in middle
Ballantine 1987 paperback 50th anniversary edition (with or without 50th anniversary note); Bilbo and Gollum on cover, cover illustration by Michael Herring.
Ballantine 1978 film art edition, softcover edition of HA1977 Rankin/Bass animation.
Late 1990s Ballantine softcover with "natural" scene of Gandalf in foreground, bridge in background, river flowing to foreground, forest on the right.
3D pop-up edition illustrated by John Howe
Houghton Mifflin hardcover 4th edition, 255 pages, with Tolkien illustrations, but dust jacket shows Smaug on his hoard and vases, cups, and chalices in the foreground.
1970 The Hobbit "Pleasure in Reading" edition. 279 pages. Australian edition? Complete?
Ballantine paperback edition with "The Greatest Epic Fantasy of Our Time" on green background; Gandalf approaching Bag End; 305 pages.
1972 English edition printed in Taiwan.
Newer version of EB1990 with new cover art
