The Hobbit, published in 1937, first introduced readers to Bilbo Baggins.
The book was published in London by George Allen & Unwin on 21 September 1937. It follows Bilbo, a comfort-loving Hobbit who is drawn into a journey with the wizard Gandalf and thirteen Dwarves. Their goal is to reclaim the Lonely Mountain and its treasure from the dragon Smaug.
The Hobbit began as a children’s fantasy story, but it introduced important elements later developed in The Lord of the Rings. These include Bilbo’s discovery of the One Ring, Gollum, and the wider history of Middle-earth. Tolkien revised parts of the text after writing The Lord of the Rings, especially the account of Bilbo’s encounter with Gollum.
The book’s success led Tolkien’s publishers to request a sequel. That sequel grew into a much larger and more complex work than either Tolkien or his publisher initially expected. The Hobbit therefore stands both as a complete adventure and as the literary starting point for the modern Middle-earth cycle.