When was The Hobbit published by George Allen & Unwin?
The Hobbit was published on the 21st of September 1937 by George Allen & Unwin. The initial print run consisted of 1,500 copies that sold out by December of that same year.
Common questions about The Hobbit
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Who wrote The Hobbit and what was his profession?
J. R. R. Tolkien wrote The Hobbit while working as the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at the University of Oxford. He held a fellowship at Pembroke College during the early 1930s when he began writing the story.
What is the origin of the name Gandalf in The Hobbit?
The name Gandalf was originally a dwarf-name in Norse literature before Tolkien used it for the wizard character. The names of the dwarves in The Hobbit are derived from northern European literature and the epic poem Beowulf.
How many editions of The Hobbit were published and when was the second edition released?
The second edition of The Hobbit was published in 1951 in both the UK and the US. A third edition followed in 1966 to align the narrative more closely with The Lord of the Rings and to renew US copyright.
What are the estimated global sales figures for The Hobbit since 1937?
Estimated global sales of The Hobbit run between 35 and 100 million copies since 1937. This makes it one of the best-selling books of all time with over 100 million copies sold worldwide.
When was the first motion picture adaptation of The Hobbit released?
The first motion picture adaptation of The Hobbit was Gene Deitch's 1966 short film of cartoon stills. A later animated film based on the book was made by Rankin/Bass in 1977.