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LittleHobbit
Lorien
Sep 27 2016, 2:58pm
Post #1 of 25
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Original book cover
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I heard somewhere that the cover for ''The Hobbit'' book was originally painted in different colors, since the sky was green and the sun was yellow or white or something... but that Tolkien later redrawn the cover with the colors he intented... I remember this bit especially about him redrawing the sun red.
I have seen both 'editions' in bookstores and I want to purchase the one with the original colors intended by Tolkien.
Does anyone here know which is it? And perhaps give a reference (like something proving)?
Thanks.
(This post was edited by LittleHobbit on Sep 27 2016, 3:08pm)
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Ingwion
Lorien
Sep 27 2016, 3:38pm
Post #2 of 25
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I found this website here http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/booksbytolkien/hobbit/editions.htm which might help...
It says this in the summary of the first edition, and lower down the page it shows one which fits this description...
Originally Tolkien intended the flying dragon and the sun to be painted red, but budget restraints forced the red color to be substituted with black.
Hope this helps
It was a foggy day in London, and the fog was heavy and dark. Animate London, with smarting eyes and irritated lungs, was blinking, wheezing, and choking; inanimate London was a sooty spectre, divided in purpose between being visible and invisible, and so being wholly neither. - Our Mutual Friend, Charles Dickens.
It is said by the Eldar that in water there lives yet the echo of the Music of the Ainur more than in any substance that is in this Earth; and many of the Children of Ilúvatar hearken still unsated to the voices of the Sea, and yet know not for what they listen. - The Silmarillion, J. R. R. Tolkien
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dernwyn
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Sep 27 2016, 3:54pm
Post #4 of 25
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I've moved this thread over to Main
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so more folks can see and respond to it. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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dormouse
Half-elven
Sep 27 2016, 4:16pm
Post #5 of 25
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Cover of the 70th anniversary edition....
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Is said to reproduce Tolkien's original colour scheme. This is the jacket (Harper Collins 70th anniversary):
...and here's your evidence (this is what it says about the design on the inside back fold of this jacket):
For still there are so many things
that I have never seen:
in every wood and every spring
there is a different green. . .
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dormouse
Half-elven
Sep 27 2016, 4:20pm
Post #6 of 25
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I scanned the pictures above from my own copy. The duller blue and green I can see on my screen (duller compared to the cover you scanned) is pretty accurate.
For still there are so many things
that I have never seen:
in every wood and every spring
there is a different green. . .
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squire
Half-elven
Sep 27 2016, 6:26pm
Post #7 of 25
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The original cover was in black, blue and green only. The color red was cut to save money.
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(image reproduced from a Reddit post)
This is the dustjacket cover of the first edition of The Hobbit in the UK. As noted already, Tolkien had conceived of the sun and the dragon as being in red, but the publisher's budget restricted him to just black, blue and green.
As you can see, the first image you posted is much closer, but it uses a kind of buff-drab for the sun and for the lines of runes at top and bottom. That is not correct for the first edition. Also, your image has been cropped somewhat at top and bottom at least, if not the sides; and Tolkien's name has been reset in all-caps typeface to replace his hand-lettered upper-lower case name.
The second image, a simplified mountainscape in black and grey with a strong red sun, is an original design by a contemporary artist for the 75th anniversary edition. It is said to be 'inspired' by Tolkien's original cover.
Another poster has already given us the revised cover that is also now available, with Tolkien's 'intended' red sun and red dragon. Although I can see what Tolkien was going for, two red focal points for the front and back 'mirror-image/good-evil' covers, I'm so used to the published version that I kind of see the red as overkill - a bit gaudy when contrasted to the exquisite balance and taste of the design we have had for so long.
squire online:
RR Discussions: The Valaquenta, A Shortcut to Mushrooms, and Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit
Lights! Action! Discuss on the Movie board!: 'A Journey in the Dark'. and 'Designing The Two Towers'.
Archive: All the TORn Reading Room Book Discussions (including the 1st BotR Discussion!) and Footerama: "Tolkien would have LOVED it!"
Dr. Squire introduces the J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: A Reader's Diary
 = Forum has no new posts. Forum needs no new posts.
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geordie
Tol Eressea
Sep 27 2016, 6:29pm
Post #8 of 25
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the replica 1st ed. Hobbit is almost ready to drop on doormats
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- in case you don't know, Harper Collins have made a facsimile of the 1937 1st edition of TH. It's been promised for years, and now it's imminent.
https://www.harpercollins.co.uk/9780007440832/the-hobbit-facsimile-first-edition
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LittleHobbit
Lorien
Sep 28 2016, 1:38pm
Post #9 of 25
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So which one out of those that I posted...
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is closer to the cover of the FIRST edition?
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dormouse
Half-elven
Sep 28 2016, 9:33pm
Post #13 of 25
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You'll see that the first of the covers you posted - the blue and green one - is closest to the UK first edition. It's not exactly the same, but it's closest.
The lower one that you posted - the black one - is a much later design by another artist, as squire explained.
I misunderstood your first post. I thought you wanted to know the colour scheme Tolkien originally intended, with the red sun and the red dragon. That was the one I posted for you: it wasn't used for the first edition because it used too many colours. It was used on the 70th anniversary edition.
For still there are so many things
that I have never seen:
in every wood and every spring
there is a different green. . .
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squire
Half-elven
Sep 28 2016, 9:52pm
Post #14 of 25
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That 70th Anniversary cover, with the red sun and dragon, is different from the 1st (and later) eds. in many other ways.
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It is Tolkien's painting, in watercolor, that he submitted to the publisher. For this edition it has been reproduced by photo process.
But when the publishers accepted it in 1937, a photo process was out of the question. They did more than just cut the color red. They replaced Tolkien's shades of purple-grey with a solid blue, made all the greens a solid field as well, added the word 'by' below the title and above the author's name on the front, re-positioned the title and added their publishers' imprint on the spine, and made other subtle changes to accommodate both the requirements of the publishing business and the differences between painting a watercolor and screening a three color separation on a factory-produced dust jacket.
Nevertheless, Tolkien's design was so good that the overall impression is almost exactly the same. Not bad for a previously unpublished author and amateur artist!
squire online:
RR Discussions: The Valaquenta, A Shortcut to Mushrooms, and Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit
Lights! Action! Discuss on the Movie board!: 'A Journey in the Dark'. and 'Designing The Two Towers'.
Archive: All the TORn Reading Room Book Discussions (including the 1st BotR Discussion!) and Footerama: "Tolkien would have LOVED it!"
Dr. Squire introduces the J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: A Reader's Diary
= Forum has no new posts. Forum needs no new posts.
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Ethel Duath
Half-elven
Sep 29 2016, 12:36am
Post #15 of 25
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I suppose they were just referring to the "Golden Mean,"
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or something. Yes, somebody needs to take that whole thing apart, and put it back together.
(This post was edited by Ethel Duath on Sep 29 2016, 12:39am)
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dormouse
Half-elven
Sep 29 2016, 8:33am
Post #16 of 25
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I think you need to see it in full - back, spine and front reproduced as one piece - to appreciate just how strong a design it is and how much thought went into it.
The red I can take or leave but I love the more subtle colouring of Tolkien's painting as reproduced on the Anniversary cover. Equally, the original printed jacket with its brighter blue and green is an old friend now. My childhood copy is a 1960s hardback but the jacket looks more or less the same.
For still there are so many things
that I have never seen:
in every wood and every spring
there is a different green. . .
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LittleHobbit
Lorien
Sep 29 2016, 2:07pm
Post #17 of 25
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How many copies of the book ''The Hobbit'' do you own?
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dormouse
Half-elven
Sep 29 2016, 4:19pm
Post #19 of 25
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...the two I've mentioned and the annotated Hobbit. I'm not really a book collector....
I just buy a lot of books!
For still there are so many things
that I have never seen:
in every wood and every spring
there is a different green. . .
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LittleHobbit
Lorien
Oct 2 2016, 2:42pm
Post #20 of 25
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Is there something different about all these copies or did you bought several of the same edition(s) or something? 
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Ingwion
Lorien
Oct 2 2016, 8:18pm
Post #21 of 25
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That's unbelievable! Amazing collection!
I myself, have a grand total of (drum roll) 2 editions of The Hobbit
It was a foggy day in London, and the fog was heavy and dark. Animate London, with smarting eyes and irritated lungs, was blinking, wheezing, and choking; inanimate London was a sooty spectre, divided in purpose between being visible and invisible, and so being wholly neither. - Our Mutual Friend, Charles Dickens.
It is said by the Eldar that in water there lives yet the echo of the Music of the Ainur more than in any substance that is in this Earth; and many of the Children of Ilúvatar hearken still unsated to the voices of the Sea, and yet know not for what they listen. - The Silmarillion, J. R. R. Tolkien
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dormouse
Half-elven
Oct 3 2016, 2:11pm
Post #23 of 25
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....two illustrated editions (Alan Lee and Michael Hague), the unabridged audio book read by Rob Inglis and the earlier abridged recording by Nicol Williamson.
I think that's all!
For still there are so many things
that I have never seen:
in every wood and every spring
there is a different green. . .
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Trotter99
Registered User
Oct 3 2016, 3:45pm
Post #24 of 25
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I only collect UK editions, plus a few US editions, of The Hobbit, but have every UK hardback impression and reprint from the first printing in 1937 to 1985, and they are not all the same and as a collector am very grateful.
I also have every other UK Hobbit that has been released to 2016 as well.
You can see more about my collection in my signature
My collector's profile - http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/...llectors/Trotter.htm
(This post was edited by Trotter99 on Oct 3 2016, 3:48pm)
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Ingwion
Lorien
Oct 3 2016, 4:17pm
Post #25 of 25
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I checked out the link in your signature! So many books!!!! Are you currently collecting the Lord of the Rings, as you have all the editions of The Hobbit?
It was a foggy day in London, and the fog was heavy and dark. Animate London, with smarting eyes and irritated lungs, was blinking, wheezing, and choking; inanimate London was a sooty spectre, divided in purpose between being visible and invisible, and so being wholly neither. - Our Mutual Friend, Charles Dickens.
It is said by the Eldar that in water there lives yet the echo of the Music of the Ainur more than in any substance that is in this Earth; and many of the Children of Ilúvatar hearken still unsated to the voices of the Sea, and yet know not for what they listen. - The Silmarillion, J. R. R. Tolkien
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