The Alan Lee illustrated Hobbit is my favorite edition of The Hobbit too! 😊 Second is the Jemima Catlin illustrated hardback edition. And third is the fascimile edition of the original Hobbit. To be fair, any of these three are wonderful. Generally speaking, I'd say the preferences might skew something like this: Catlin for kids, Lee for adults, and the fascimile for those who love the classic look and feel from the 1930s.
I agree! Someday I will get the fascimile edition to add to my collection. I do love the look of that classic edition. Looking up Jemima Catlins illustated edition now
I can guarantee you that the Catlin version would have been my favorite edition if it had existed when I was a kid. I liked books with lots of illustrations, and if I have kids I'll likely be reading the Catlin edition to them.
I picked up the Jemima Catlin illustrated edition last Christmas. Beautiful clothbound cover. The art style is less high fantasy and more children's fairy tale but I do like it. TBH I will collect all the editions lol.