J.R.R. Tolkien’s first published novel, released in 1937, was The Hobbit. The book was published by George Allen & Unwin on 21 September 1937 and introduced readers to Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit drawn into a quest involving dwarves, a dragon, and a lost treasure.
Tolkien originally developed the story for his children, but the manuscript attracted the attention of publisher Stanley Unwin. Its success led the publisher to request a sequel, which eventually became The Lord of the Rings. The Hobbit was written in a lighter, more children’s-literature style than the later epic.
The book’s first edition did not present the full mythology later associated with Middle-earth. Tolkien revised some details, especially the account of Bilbo’s finding of the Ring, to align the story with its sequel.