Doctor Dolittle’s Return was published by Frederick A. Stokes in 1933, five years after Doctor Dolittle in the Moon — a long gap that reflected both Lofting’s personal difficulties (his first wife died in 1927) and his struggle to bring the Doctor back from the Moon in a satisfying way.
The Doctor returns to Puddleby to discover that his absence has transformed him into a legend — crowds gather to see him, reporters pursue him, and the quiet life he desires seems impossible. The book is partly about the burden of fame (which Lofting himself experienced and disliked) and partly about the difficulty of returning to ordinary life after extraordinary experience. The Doctor has seen things on the Moon that have changed his understanding of life and nature, and the mundane concerns of Puddleby seem smaller than before.
The resolution — the Doctor’s gradual retreat from public attention and his return to quiet scientific work in his garden — reflects Lofting’s own increasing desire for privacy and simplicity in the final years of his life.
Collecting Doctor Dolittle’s Return
First edition (Frederick A. Stokes, New York, 1933): Cloth binding with Lofting’s illustrations.
Market values:
- First edition in dust jacket: $80–$250
- Without jacket: $15–$40
- Later editions: $5–$15