The Hobbit (George Allen & Unwin, 1937)

Tolkien drew this jacket himself for the 1937 George Allen & Unwin first edition: snowy peaks, a wood of stylized trees and a winding river, framed by a border of runes that spell out the title, author and publisher. He wanted the sun on the front and the dragon on the back printed in red, but the publisher refused the cost of another color, so the first jacket went out without it. Collectors check the rear flap, where the first-issue jacket misspells "Dodgson" as "Dodgeson," often corrected by hand in ink. The chips and tears on this copy are typical of a jacket that was read, not shelved.