Keep the illustrator in the search
‘An illustrated Hobbit’ leaves a large part of the request unanswered. Jemima Catlin's own account describes more than 150 illustrations created for the edition first published by HarperCollins in 2013, and notes hardback and paperback formats. If her interpretation is what you want, keep her name beside Tolkien's rather than assuming every illustrated cover leads to that work.
The publisher's 2025 Top Gift catalogue links ISBN 9780007497904 to The Hobbit with Catlin and identifies it as hardcover. Its 2025 children's stocklist links 9780007497935 to The Colour Illustrated Hobbit, also illustrated by Catlin, and marks it PB with 197-by153 mm format. These are two concrete identifiers for the binding question, not two different illustrators.
State the desired result, not just the number
A useful request can therefore be ‘the Catlin-illustrated hardback, 9780007497904’ or ‘the Catlin paperback, 9780007497935’. For the latter, the publisher's documented format gives a real size to consider for carrying the book; it does not establish paper thickness or how easily a particular copy opens flat.
Keep a seller's photograph answerable to that record. A recognisable title and Catlin artwork do not settle the binding if the listing combines several formats. Nor do these ISBNs certify a first printing, an autograph or the condition of an individual copy. Those are separate collecting questions, while this choice is simply which physical publication you meant to bring home.
Sources & further reading
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