The book explains: "It is a little-known fact that when J.R.R. Tolkien wrote his masterpiece, 'Lord of the Rings,' he rewrote part ot his earlier book, 'The Hobbit', so it would conform with the plot of the 'ring' epic. The major change was in the 5th chapter, 'Riddles In the Dark', in which the titular hero, Bilbo Baggins, meets a nasty critter named Gollum in a goblin cave. Few readers recall the first U.S. version of 'The Hobbit', published by Houghton Mifflin in 1938, yet Tolkien mentions the rewritten chapter in a prefatory note appearing in later editions. Bilbo, he explained, was normally honest, but the evil ring made him lie about what happened in the cave and Bilbo even set down the false version in his own diary, the alleged source of The Hobbit. Completist that I am, I have long sought the 1938 variant of the Gollum chapter. Thanks to my friend, Faith Lancereau, I finally obtained a copy. With the permission of the publishers and the Tolkien Estate, I am proud to present this obscure footnote to hobbit-lore in its first reprinting in many decades..." (Marvin Kaye, editor)
The book explains: "It is a little-known fact that when J.R.R. Tolkien wrote his masterpiece, 'Lord of the Rings,' he rewrote part ot his earlier book, 'The Hobbit', so it would conform with the plot of the 'ring' epic. The major change was in the 5th chapter, 'Riddles In the Dark', in which the titular hero, Bilbo Baggins, meets a nasty critter named Gollum in a goblin cave. Few readers recall the first U.S. version of 'The Hobbit', published by Houghton Mifflin in 1938, yet Tolkien mentions the rewritten chapter in a prefatory note appearing in later editions. Bilbo, he explained, was normally honest, but the evil ring made him lie about what happened in the cave and Bilbo even set down the false version in his own diary, the alleged source of The Hobbit. Completist that I am, I have long sought the 1938 variant of the Gollum chapter. Thanks to my friend, Faith Lancereau, I finally obtained a copy. With the permission of the publishers and the Tolkien Estate, I am proud to present this obscure footnote to hobbit-lore in its first reprinting in many decades..." (Marvin Kaye, editor)