1967 The Hobbit (Alan Haines)

Release Date: 1967.11
Reader: Alan Haines
Language: English
Organization: American Printing House for the Blind
Translator: n/a
Copyright: © 1938 Houghton Mifflin
ISBN: n/a
Duration: Estimated 8+ hours
Unabridged: Yes
Country: USA
Licenced: Yes
Formats: 12 sides, 10-inch records, recorded at 16⅔ rpm
NLS Book Number: TB 01654

Produced by American Printing House for the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled service of the Library of Congress. This reading was made purely for eligible members of this special library service in the USA and not available for commercial release.

Alan Haines, born was a British actor and playwright with a long career on stage and television. He was often hired by the APH for his clear, “received pronunciation” (RP) English, which the Library of Congress felt was appropriate for Tolkien’s prose. He also narrated LoC versions of The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis around the same period (1966). This was recorded at the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) studios in Louisville, Kentucky. Despite being a British actor, Haines was part of a cohort of narrators used by the APH in the late 60s for “English-heritage” literature.

This was part of a major Fantasy and Science Fiction push by the APH in 1967, which also saw the release of several other British-narrated titles. The announcement for this recording appeared in Talking Book Topics, Volume 33, Number 6 (November 1967). The NLS records specifically note Haines’s “British theatrical background” as an asset for the fairy-tale tone of the work.

During the mid-70s, the Library of Congress moved many of its most popular Talking Book records onto cassette. In January 1976, the NLS published a list of Cassette Books (using the newer 4-track cassette format) that were dubbed from original Talking Book masters to make them more portable for patrons.

This reading of The Hobbit was dubbed onto cassette in 1976, but was quickly replaced in 1978 by a new recording by Bob Askey because the 1967 master tape had significant hiss and was considered outdated in terms of audio fidelity. The Bob Askey version (1978) provided a higher-fidelity tape-native recording.

Unlike the Bob Askey recording, which used more rhythmic chants, Haines is noted for a “recited-melodic” approach to the songs. He did not sing them in a traditional musical sense but used a rhythmic, elevated cadence to distinguish them from the prose.

This is the first of three recordings made so far by the Library of Congress. The most recent one is Carol Jordan Stewart’s reading in 2001.

A 10-inch record spinning at 16 rpm (specifically 16 2/3 rpm) was a niche format primarily used for spoken word, talking books for the blind, or background music, because it prioritized quantity of audio over high-fidelity sound quality. Used at maximum capacity, 12 sides would be enough for an unabridged reading.