The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
Epic Fantasy High Fantasy Young Adult Fantasy Coming-of-Age Adventure Children's Fantasy Collectible Editions
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again stands as the gateway to Middle-earth, and this 1990 hardcover edition delivers Tolkien’s classic in a form that collectors and readers alike treasure. Bound in sturdy boards and wrapped in a bright illustrated dust jacket, the book preserves the original Alan Lee-style artwork that made these ’90s impressions so sought-after. Because it was printed only a decade before Peter Jackson’s films reshaped popular perception, this copy captures the story in its pure, pre-cinema literary glow—ideal for anyone who wants the adventure as readers first met it in 1937, yet with the crisp type and durable binding of a late-20th-century gift quality book.
What makes this particular copy special is the gentle personal history it carries: a neat gift inscription on the flyleaf that dates it to the year of publication, anchoring it firmly in the nostalgia of a 1990 Christmas or birthday. The pages are clean, free of dog-ears, and have never known a smoky room, so the creamy paper still smells like a bookstore find rather than an attic relic. For parents handing down their own childhood copy, or collectors building a uniform shelf of early ’90s Tolkien hardbacks, that combination of pristine condition and traceable provenance is gold.
Beyond collectibility, the story itself remains the perfect family read-aloud: a brisk 300-page quest that slides from cozy hobbit-holes to dragon-guarded mountains, pitched so that confident 9-year-olds can solo it yet layered enough to satisfy adults who return annually to Middle-earth. This edition’s generous typeface and Lee-inspired illustrations give younger readers natural resting points, while the durable sewn binding stands up to repeated bedtime sessions. Whether you’re filling a gap in a Tolkien set, hunting a memorable milestone gift, or simply rekindling your own sense of adventure, this inscribed 1990 Hobbit offers a tangible piece of literary history you can hold, shelve, and cherish for the next thirty years.
Refer to our eBay listing for a full condition report and many more high-quality pictures of this item.
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