# The Hobbit dust-jacket designed by Tolkien



## Rivendell_librarian (Mar 10, 2019)

I believe this was used as the dust jacket for the first British edition. However the US publishers (Hodder and Stoughton) preferred another of Tolkien's designs:






The first design is rightly regarded as a design classic. I love the way Tolkien breaks the near symmetry with Laketown. It reminds me of Eric Ravilious. 

The latter, though still attractive, is rather too safe a choice for my liking - but it was USA in the 1930s.


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## Ithilethiel (Mar 16, 2019)

I like them both for different reasons. The first is very stylized with an illustrative bent. The second is very Americana and reminds me of Grandma Moses. I wouldn't call it safe, it's just more Americanized.


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## Karak Norn Clansman (Mar 28, 2019)

Agreed, both are fine, but the stylized one will stand the test of time better.


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## Rilien (Mar 29, 2019)

The second illustration is on my paperback edition of The Fellowship of the Ring, from sometime in the 1970s, in the US.


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