The Hobbit 50th Anniversary, 1937-1987
A commemorative booklet celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of The Hobbit

Notes
This little booklet was issued to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the publication of The Hobbit. It includes extracts from Tolkien’s letters to George Allen & Unwin:

1) - See p.5 - Quotes from a letter to Charles Furth dated 25 April 1937 regarding the jacket design for The Hobbit.

2) - See p.10 – Reproduces the second page and quotes from a letter to Charles Furth dated 19 December 1937 informing him that he had ”written the first chapter of a new story about Hobbits – ‘A long expected party’.” The letter can be found in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter No. 20, but lacks a paragraph that is included in this booklet.

The booklet also includes brief quotes from letters included in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. Two editions of this booklet were issued: One by Unwin Hyman and one by Blackwell Bookshops (shown opposite). The only difference between the two editions can be seen on the upper cover, i.e. the name of the publisher appears on the bottom edge.

A similar booklet was issued by Houghton Mifflin in 1988 with the title The Hobbit Fiftieth Anniversary, 1938-1988.