The Hobbit is one of the books where I first came to appreciate “editions”, though I tend to be very attached to whichever cover I read a book under first–we owned the beautiful 50th anniversary edition, with its gilt binding, embossed obscurely with the runes of the title instead of the English.
It was a treasure, so my brother and I didn’t get to read it on our own. We soon acquired a paperback that my mom could reread from without worry, and we could smuggle off to our own rooms, with the sort of 70s watercolor psychedelics that I was resigned to from my father’s boxed set of Chronicles of Narnia, but seemed unfathomably surreal to me… I don’t think this is it, but it’s similar, and it may be the one I remember was faded so I can’t remember how it looked.
The Pretty Librarian used this cover as the classic to invoke the book for the write-up I did, and it’s a good one–the art by Tolkien matches the story’s internal style, and the illustrations he created for it.
It still has that desaturated tone, though, without much high contrast. I understand this is was a necessity of earlier printing, but when for me the primary imagery is so dark with night, and sparking with campfires and dragon’s breath… Well, you can understand why I am so in love with some of the Johnny-Come-Latelys of the field.
Alan Lee, my one and only forever Tolkien art crush. His muted use of color and the liquid textures of his paintings just floor me.
But wait, as if that’s not enough…
I do happen to have this one, the one above. Both of these evoke more of the clear beauties of Tolkien’s work, which is why Lee’s work is so popular. I mean, aside from the gorgeousness of it all… I’m not sure who this is, but it’s a similar style:
CAN YOU CHOSE?
No. This is why I personally own five of the seven different editions of Tolkien’s work represented in this house.
GossamerSong - every skein a story 