When on 17 April 2007 we saw the publication of The Children of Hurin it seemed to me everyone was forgetting that 2007 is a special year for much more reasons then only the publication of a new Tolkien book. Not only do we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Silmarillion (with a fine deluxe edition), we also celebrate the tale which started it all... The Hobbit of course! Since 1937, few books have provided more pleasure than J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. Originally published in England with a first printing of 1,500 copies, The Hobbit this year celebrates its 70th anniversary! Last year I wrote a nice article on this first impression, you can find it here. The Hobbit has fascinated many people and a lot of Tolkien collectors do specialize mainly in hobbits and the translations of hobbits. I thought it very strange that there where no special or deluxe editions being announced so far by either the UK or the US Tolkien publishers. But as expected things are about to change...

Now to celebrate 70 years of the Hobbit we will see a new edition of The Hobbit with a short introduction by Christopher Tolkien, a reset text incorporating the most up-to-date corrections, and all of Tolkien’s own drawings and color illustrations, including the rare “Mirkwood” piece.

The UK equivalent of this book will also be available soon, namely inside The Hobbit 70th Anniversary Collectors Edition, of which you can find all info in this article.

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