The Tolkien Coming of Age Club

[Child of the 7th Age]

Does anyone have an old, old Hobbit? I mean the one before Tolkien made the changes to Gollum and Riddles in the Dark. I would love one of those, but the prices on e-bay make me faint.

I do have a sturdy old library binding labelled "twentieth printing" (no year is given--picked it up long ago at a rummage sale) that includes a special note at the front where the author explains he has made certain changes in his revised volume:

... More important is the matter of Chapter 5. There the true story of the ending of the Riddle Game, as it was eventually revealed (under pressure) by Bilbo to Gandalf, is now given according to the Red Book, in place of the version Bilbo first gave to his friends, and actually set down in his diary. This departure from truth on the part of a most honest hobbit was a portent of great significance. It does not, however, concern the present story, and those who in this edition make their first acquaintance with hobbit-lore need not trouble about it. Its explanation lies in the history of the Ring, as it is set out in the chronicles of the Red Book of Westmarch, and it must await their publication.

I love that reference. Whenever I read it, I feel I am standing at a small round window, peering into a burrow, where I have a glimpse of JRRT sitting at his desk and working on the Red Book!