The Hobbit: [Limited Edition Collector's Box]

TOLKIEN, J. R. R.

ISBN 10: 0007105096 / ISBN 13: 9780007105090

Published by HarperCollins, 2001

About this Item

This Limited Edition Collector's Box comprises of a special hardcover edition of J.R.R. Tolkien's masterpiece of children's literature; a full colour fold-out map of Wilderland by John Howe showing Bilbo's journey 'there and back again' in glorious detail, complete with a booklet by Brian Sibley about the writing of The Hobbit; Eight colour postcards featuring Tolkien's own magnificent maps, and paintings of history'; An exclusive free CD of an archive recording from 1952 of J.R.R. Tolkien reading Bilbo's encounter with the horrible Gollum, never previously available on CD. \n\nIn the original publishers shrinkwrap. Unopened.

Seller Inventory # 11843

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Hobbit: [Limited Edition Collector's Box]
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication Date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0007105096
• ISBN 13: 9780007105090
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition.

About this title

Synopsis

Presented in a special gift box, this pack also includes a copy of John Howe's colour map of Wilderland, a booklet about the writing of "The Hobbit", six postcards featuring Tolkien's own paintings, a CD of extracts read by Tolkien, and photographs of the "Lord of the Rings" movie.

Review

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."

The hobbit-hole in question belongs to one Bilbo Baggins, an upstanding member of a "little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded dwarves." He is, like most of his kind, well off, well fed, and best pleased when sitting by his own fire with a pipe, a glass of good beer, and a meal to look forward to. Certainly this particular hobbit is the last person one would expect to see set off on a hazardous journey; indeed, when Gandalf the Grey stops by one morning, "looking for someone to share in an adventure," Baggins fervently wishes the wizard elsewhere. No such luck, however; soon 13 fortune-seeking dwarves have arrived on the hobbit's doorstep in search of a burglar, and before he can even grab his hat or an umbrella, Bilbo Baggins is swept out his door and into a dangerous adventure.

The dwarves' goal is to return to their ancestral home in the Lonely Mountains and reclaim a stolen fortune from the dragon Smaug. Along the way, they and their reluctant companion meet giant spiders, hostile elves, ravening wolves--and, most perilous of all, a subterranean creature named Gollum from whom Bilbo wins a magical ring in a riddling contest. It is from this life-or-death game in the dark that J.R.R. Tolkien's masterwork, The Lord of the Rings, would eventually spring. Though The Hobbit is lighter in tone than the trilogy that follows, it has, like Bilbo Baggins himself, unexpected iron at its core. Don't be fooled by its fairy-tale demeanor; this is very much a story for adults, though older children will enjoy it, too. By the time Bilbo returns to his comfortable hobbit-hole, he is a different person altogether, well primed for the bigger adventures to come--and so is the reader. --Alix Wilber