The Hobbit: An Illustrated Edition of the Fantasy Classic »

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892, in Bloemfontein, South Africa. After serving in the First World War, he embarked upon a distinguished academic career and was recognized as one of the finest philologists in the world. He was a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford, a fellow of Pembroke College, and a fellow of Merton College until his retirement in 1959. He is, however, beloved throughout the world as the creator of Middle-earth and author of such classic works as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. He died on September 2, 1973, at the age of 81.

First published in the United States more than sixty years ago, J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit has become one of the best-loved books of all time. Tolkien's fantasy was then adapted into a fully painted graphic novel, which became a classic in its own right...

The enchanted prelude to The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit is the story of Bilbo Baggins, a quiet and contented hobbit whose life is turned upside down when he joins the wizard Gandalf and thirteen dwarves on their quest to reclaim stolen treasure. It is a journey fraught with danger—and in the end it is bilbo Baggins alone who must face the guardian of this treasure, the most dreaded dragon in all Middle-earth.

Horn Book Guide

All those, young or old, who love a finely imagined story, beautifully told, will take The Hobbit to their hearts.