J.R.R. Tolkien First Editions

• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (eds. J.R.R. Tolkien & E.V. Gordon) — 1925 · Oxford at the Clarendon PressFirst edition, first impression: "Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1925", edited by Tolkien (main text and glossary) and E. V. Gordon (the greater part of the notes), with introduction and a linguistic appendix; approximately 211-212 pages. Bound in original green cloth, spine lettered in gilt, covers ruled in gilt and blind, the front cover stamped with an axe device in gilt, edges untrimmed. A frontispiece and a…. UK only. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1925 is the sole true first — there is no separately set US first edition. Two 'first thus' traps: (1) the revised second edition prepared by Norman Davis (Clarendon Press, 1967) reuses the Tolkien-Gordon text but is a later edition, not this book; (2) Tolkien's Modern English verse translation, published as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo (Allen & Unwin,…. No book-club issue is documented for this scholarly Clarendon edition. The real traps are all "first thus": the many Clarendon reprints and corrected impressions issued between 1925 and 1966 under the identical title and imprint (the 1955 corrected reprint among them), and the 1967 second edition revised by Norman Davis, in which the introduction, notes and appendix are largely rewritten. All are routinely….
• The Hobbit — 1937 · George Allen & UnwinFirst impression, George Allen & Unwin, 21 September 1937, 1,500 copies. Copyright page states 'First published ... 1937' with no reference to any later printing. Green cloth boards with Tolkien's designs stamped in blue on front, spine and rear; top edge stained green; Thror's Map and the Wilderland map on the endpapers, printed in red and black. The first impression is illustrated with Tolkien's BLACK-AND-WHITE…. The UK Allen & Unwin 1937 first impression is the true first. The US edition (Houghton Mifflin, 1938) is a separate first American edition and -- unlike the UK first impression -- includes the four colour plates. The 'Dodgeson' inked-correction jacket and the black-and-white-only illustrations are the headline points of the true first impression. The second impression (Allen & Unwin, December 1937, issued early 1938, 2,300 copies) is the classic look-alike: it is stated 'Second Impression 1937' and ADDS four colour illustrations (a colour frontispiece plus three colour plates -- Rivendell facing p.59, the Raft-elves facing p.192, and Conversation with Smaug facing p.228). Any copy containing colour plates, or stating 'Second Impression,' is NOT the first….
• Farmer Giles of Ham — 1949 · George Allen & UnwinFirst impression published 20 October 1949, about 4,500 copies in the trade binding; illustrated by Pauline Baynes with two inserted color plates and drawings in the text. Orange decorated paper boards with an embossed dragon design, stamped in light blue on front and spine, top edge stained gray, decorated endpapers; no later-impression statement. First-impression dust jacket by Baynes with its printed price. UK Allen & Unwin is the true first; the US Houghton Mifflin edition followed in 1950. Later reprints and combined volumes containing the tale alongside other works are not firsts.
• The Fellowship of the Ring — 1954 · George Allen & UnwinFirst impression published 29 July 1954, 3,000 copies, George Allen & Unwin. Copyright-page verso reads 'First published in 1954' with no later impression listed; the title page itself is undated. Red cloth, the spine lettered in gilt. The two-colour (red and black) folding general map, 'The West of Middle-earth at the End of the Third Age', is inserted at the rear, and the 'A Part of the Shire' map appears…. UK Allen & Unwin is the true first. The US Houghton Mifflin edition (October 1954) followed; its earliest impressions were made up from sheets printed in Great Britain by Allen & Unwin, so the UK issue has priority. For a first-edition set every volume must be a first impression, and sets are frequently mismatched. Because the type was distributed after the first printing, the second impression (December 1954, 2,500 copies) is a complete resetting rather than a corrected reprint, differing from the first in numerous small settings; it and all later impressions are noted on the copyright page. Book-club printings and the revised second edition (1965 onward) are distinct and lack the first-impression map and jacket states.
• The Lord of the Rings trilogy matched-set signed firsts — 1954 · Allen & UnwinThe true first edition is the three-volume George Allen & Unwin set, each volume a first impression: The Fellowship of the Ring (published 29 July 1954), The Two Towers (published 11 November 1954), and The Return of the King (published 20 October 1955). The title page of each names the publisher as George Allen & Unwin Ltd, London. Each volume retains its original folding map at the rear. The Return of the King…. The UK George Allen & Unwin edition, issued in three volumes across 1954-1955, is the true first; the print runs were small (roughly 3,000 for Fellowship, followed by Two Towers, then Return of the King). US Houghton Mifflin editions followed the UK firsts. Book-club editions and later impressions reprint the text but are not the first edition and are far less collectible. Verify each volume against the first-impression points above, and confirm the Return of the King first state (no signature mark '4', slipped type on page 49) — see book-club edition vs. first edition.
• The Two Towers — 1954 · George Allen & UnwinFirst impression published 11 November 1954, 3,250 copies, George Allen & Unwin. The copyright-page verso reads 'First published in 1954' with no later-impression notice; the title page is UNDATED. The key gathering point is the signature '4' at the foot of the final page (p. 352). The two-colour folding general map ('The West of Middle-earth') is present at the rear. The first-issue dust jacket is price-present…. UK Allen & Unwin is the true first and precedes the US Houghton Mifflin issue (1955). Every volume in a set must be a first impression, and mixed-impression sets are common. Do NOT treat a year on the title page as a first-impression point: the first impression's title page is undated, and it is the true SECOND impression that adds '1955' to the title page (and states 'Second impression 1955' on the verso). A third impression exists that labels itself 'Second Impression' but carries no year on the title page — the dated title page is what separates the genuine second from the….
• The Lord of the Rings (3 vols) — 1954-1955 · George Allen & UnwinThree volumes, each a George Allen & Unwin first impression: The Fellowship of the Ring (29 July 1954, 3,000 copies), The Two Towers (11 November 1954, 3,250 copies) and The Return of the King (20 October 1955, 7,000 copies). Each volume's verso must read 'First published in 19—' (1954 / 1954 / 1955) with no later-impression notice, and each carries at least one two-colour (red and black) folding map at the rear.…. UK George Allen & Unwin is the true first for all three volumes; the US Houghton Mifflin issues followed, and the earliest of those were made up from sheets printed in Britain. A genuine first-edition set must have all three as first impressions — Fellowship and Two Towers dated 1954 and Return of the King dated 1955 on the verso. Because the volumes were issued a year apart and quickly reprinted,…. Later impressions state 'Second Impression' / 'Third Impression' (and, in Two Towers, add a year to the title page) and reset text; the US Houghton Mifflin issues and the revised second edition (1965 onward) are distinct. Book-club sets lack the first-impression statements and often substitute reproduced or single-colour maps for the correct two-colour folding maps.
• The Return of the King — 1955 · George Allen & UnwinFirst impression published 20 October 1955, George Allen & Unwin, 7,000 copies — the last-published of the three volumes and, at 7,000 copies, actually the largest first impression (Fellowship at 3,000 and Two Towers at 3,250 are the scarcer volumes). The copyright-page verso reads 'First published in 1955' with no later-impression notice — this, not the page-49 features, is the reliable first-impression point.…. UK Allen & Unwin is the true first. Many dealer descriptions still call the signature-'4'-with-slipped-type variant the 'first state', following Hammond & Anderson's original 1993 Descriptive Bibliography sequence (which assumed printers would have corrected the damage). Hammond reversed that priority in The Tolkien Collector, issue 11 (October 1995): the undamaged page 49 without the '4' is now accepted as the…. The page-49 type damage was never corrected: the second and all later impressions retain it, and the signature '4' was removed after the second impression. Later impressions are stated on the copyright page; the revised second edition (1965 onward) and book-club copies are distinct.
• The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book — 1962 · George Allen & UnwinFirst impression, published 22 November 1962. Pictorial boards with full-colour wraparound design by Pauline Baynes; dust jacket repeats the cover design. First-impression text point: the full-page illustration of cats falls in the middle of the poem Fastitocalon; the poems were reordered in the second impression (also 1962) to fix this. No later-impression notice on verso. UK Allen & Unwin true first; US Houghton Mifflin edition followed in 1963. Later impressions carry an impression notice and have the reordered poem sequence.
• Tree and Leaf — 1964 · George Allen & UnwinFirst edition, first impression, London: George Allen & Unwin, 1964, with the first-impression statement on the verso and no later impressions listed (Hammond & Anderson A7b). Collects the revised essay On Fairy-Stories and the story Leaf by Niggle. Bound in dark green cloth lettered in gilt on the spine with a dark green topstain; issued in a pale green dust jacket printed in black and green, the jacket carrying…. UK Allen & Unwin is the true first; the US Houghton Mifflin edition of 1965 follows in a slightly larger format with a different jacket design. The 1988 edition edited by Christopher Tolkien adds the poem Mythopoeia, and later combined editions add The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son; neither is the first.
• Smith of Wootton Major — 1967 · George Allen & UnwinFirst impression, published 9 November 1967; illustrated by Pauline Baynes; pictorial dust jacket; first-impression statement on verso. First-impression sheets exist in two binding states: the earlier preferred state has a solid black case without the white borders at the top and bottom edges and spine seen on the later state. UK Allen & Unwin is the true first: published 9 November 1967, ahead of the US Houghton Mifflin edition later that year. The extended edition edited by Verlyn Flieger (2005) is a distinct later text, not the first.
• The Road Goes Ever On: A Song Cycle (music by Donald Swann) — 1967 · Houghton MifflinUS Houghton Mifflin first edition, published 31 October 1967: oblong quarto sheet-music format, red cloth stamped in gilt, dust jacket; states first edition/first printing. UK Allen & Unwin edition followed in 1968. US edition precedes UK here, the reverse of the usual pattern for Tolkien; the 1968 Allen & Unwin printing is the first UK edition only. The 1978 second edition adds Bilbo's Last Song and is not the first; later reissues add further material.
• The Father Christmas Letters — 1976 · George Allen & Unwin, LondonThe first edition is George Allen & Unwin, London, published 2 September 1976 — the third anniversary of Tolkien's death — edited by Baillie Tolkien, second wife of Christopher Tolkien. Quarto, roughly 28.5 x 22.5 cm, unpaginated (about 47 pages), illustrated throughout with colour reproductions of Tolkien's drawings and manuscript letters. ISBN 0-04-823130-4. The controlling physical point: the Allen & Unwin…. UK precedence confirmed, and the census claim stands. George Allen & Unwin published on 2 September 1976; Houghton Mifflin, Boston, followed on 19 October 1976, roughly seven weeks later, so the A&U is the true first. Both are collected. The US first was typeset as for the Allen & Unwin 1976 first edition, runs to 48 pages, carries ISBN 0-395-24981-3, and — unlike the UK — was issued in a priced dust jacket, with…. A Book Club Associates (UK) issue and a Methuen (Canada) issue are reported for 1976, but no dealer record or bibliography consulted describes their identifying tells, so they are flagged as unconfirmed rather than asserted — verify against a physical copy before relying on this. Note also that the usual book-club tells do not transfer here: because the A&U trade first has no jacket at all, the standard "clipped….
• The Silmarillion — 1977 · George Allen & UnwinUK first: the copyright page states First published in 1977 with no later printing line. The folding map is present in a rear pocket. Green cloth with a gilt device. Dust jacket art is by Tolkien, the white emblem on a dark ground. Both the UK Allen & Unwin and US Houghton Mifflin editions appeared in 1977. Precedence is disputed: the US Houghton Mifflin printing is reported to have been released in August 1977, slightly ahead of the UK Allen & Unwin publication in September 1977, so the US edition is sometimes argued to be the true first. A de luxe limited issue signed by Christopher Tolkien also exists. The US book club edition lacks a price on the jacket flap and typically shows a blind-stamped dot on the rear board, and may state Book Club Edition. Science Fiction Book Club printings are common.
• Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth — 1980 · George Allen & UnwinEdited by Christopher Tolkien. UK first impression 1980; folding Map of Middle-earth bound in at the rear; first-impression statement on verso. First-impression dust jackets are characteristically printed with pale blue ink that appears faded even on unhandled copies. UK Allen & Unwin true first; US Houghton Mifflin edition followed later in 1980. Later printings and book-club issues carry impression notices and lack the first-state jacket.
• The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien — 1981 · George Allen & UnwinGeorge Allen & Unwin (London), 1981, edited by Humphrey Carpenter with the assistance of Christopher Tolkien. First impression with the first-impression statement on the verso and no later impressions listed. Bound in publisher's cloth with gilt title to the spine and a gilt 'JRRT' monogram to the upper board, top edge stained brown as issued, in the publisher's typographic dust jacket; the jacket should retain…. The Allen & Unwin impression is the true first; the US Houghton Mifflin edition, also 1981, follows. The revised and expanded 2023 edition is a distinct, later, and enlarged text, not a reprint of the 1981 first. Later printings carry impression notices on the verso; the expanded 2023 edition is not the first.
• Mr. Bliss — 1982 · George Allen & UnwinFacsimile of Tolkien's illustrated manuscript with typeset transcription on facing pages. First impression, George Allen & Unwin, 1982; copyright page states first publication in 1982 with no later impression noted. The price appears on a label, seen either as a round gold label on the lower cover or a white rectangular label on the jacket flap. UK Allen & Unwin 1982 is the true first; the US Houghton Mifflin edition followed in 1983. Later impressions are identified on the copyright page; a first impression carries no impression statement beyond the first-publication line.
• The Book of Lost Tales, Part One (History of Middle-earth vol. 1) — 1983 · George Allen & UnwinEdited by Christopher Tolkien. UK first impression, George Allen & Unwin, 1983; copyright page states first publication in 1983 with no later impression noted. UK Allen & Unwin 1983 is the true first; the US Houghton Mifflin edition followed in February 1984. Book-club issues and later printings exist; a first impression states first publication in 1983 with no additional impression line.
• The Book of Lost Tales, Part Two (HoME vol. 2) — 1984 · George Allen & UnwinEdited by Christopher Tolkien. UK George Allen & Unwin first impression, 1984, identified by the 'First published in 1984' statement on the copyright page. Bound in burgundy/maroon boards with gilt spine lettering and a stained (dyed) top edge; the priced dust jacket should retain its printed price. UK George Allen & Unwin true first, published 16 August 1984; the US Houghton Mifflin edition follows on 26 November 1984. Later impressions and club/US printings differ; the true first shows only the 1984 'First published' statement with no later-impression additions on the copyright page.
• The Lays of Beleriand (HoME vol. 3) — 1985 · George Allen & UnwinEdited by Christopher Tolkien; third volume of The History of Middle-earth. UK George Allen & Unwin first edition, first impression, 1985, carrying the standard Allen & Unwin 'First published in 1985' statement on the copyright page with no later-impression dates added. Bound in dark green boards, the spine ruled and lettered in gilt, with top edge stained green. The first-issue dust jacket carries the printed…. UK Allen & Unwin (1985) is the true first; the US Houghton Mifflin edition follows. Later Allen & Unwin/Unwin Hyman impressions add printing dates to the copyright statement; identify a first only by the clean 'First published in 1985' line.
• The Shaping of Middle-earth (HoME vol. 4) — 1986 · George Allen & UnwinEdited by Christopher Tolkien; fourth volume of The History of Middle-earth. UK George Allen & Unwin first edition, first impression, 1986, carrying the standard Allen & Unwin 'First published in 1986' statement on the copyright page with no later-impression dates added. Bound in original boards with the spine lettered in gilt. Octavo, 380 pages; ISBN 0 04 823279 3. The first-issue dust jacket carries the printed…. UK Allen & Unwin (1986) is the true first; the US Houghton Mifflin edition follows. Later Allen & Unwin/Unwin Hyman impressions add printing dates to the copyright statement; a first shows only the clean 'First published in 1986' line.
• The Lost Road and Other Writings (HoME vol. 5) — 1987 · Unwin HymanEdited by Christopher Tolkien; the fifth volume of The History of Middle-earth. UK first edition, first impression published by Unwin Hyman in 1987 (the successor imprint to George Allen & Unwin), identified by the "First published in 1987" statement on the copyright page with no later-impression numbering added. Issued as a hardcover in dust jacket; ISBN 0 04 823349 8, 448 pages. The UK Unwin Hyman 1987 edition is the true first; the US Houghton Mifflin edition of 1987 was typeset chiefly from the Unwin Hyman first edition and follows it. Later impressions add impression numbering or revised printing statements on the copyright page and depart from the clean 1987 first-impression line.
• The Return of the Shadow (HoME vol. 6) — 1988 · Unwin HymanEdited by Christopher Tolkien. UK first impression: copyright page states first publication by Unwin Hyman, 1988, with no reprint or later-impression notice. Jacket flap printed price. First impression was a small printing of about 5,000 copies. UK Unwin Hyman edition is the true first; the US Houghton Mifflin edition followed in October 1988. Later impressions add reprint notices to the copyright page.
• The Treason of Isengard (HoME vol. 7) — 1989 · Unwin HymanEdited by Christopher Tolkien. UK first impression: copyright page states first publication by Unwin Hyman, 1989, with no reprint or later-impression notice. Red boards lettered in gilt; jacket flap printed price. UK Unwin Hyman edition is the true first, preceding the HarperCollins reissues; the US Houghton Mifflin edition followed. Later impressions add reprint notices to the copyright page.
• The War of the Ring (HoME vol. 8) — 1990 · Unwin HymanEdited by Christopher Tolkien. UK first impression: copyright page states first publication by Unwin Hyman, 1990, with no reprint or later-impression notice. The last History of Middle-earth volume under the Unwin Hyman imprint before HarperCollins took over the series. UK Unwin Hyman edition is the true first; the US Houghton Mifflin edition followed. Later impressions add reprint notices to the copyright page.
• Sauron Defeated (HoME vol. 9) — 1992 · HarperCollinsEdited by Christopher Tolkien. UK first impression (the first volume in the series under HarperCollins): copyright page shows only the 1992 date with no later impressions listed. First impression was 5,000 copies, of which about 2,000 were sold through Book Club Associates, so genuine first impressions exist with both priced and unpriced jackets. UK HarperCollins edition is the true first; the US Houghton Mifflin edition followed. Book Club Associates distributed part of the actual first impression; an unpriced jacket alone does not indicate a later printing. Two impressions were issued.
• Morgoth's Ring (HoME vol. 10) — 1993 · HarperCollinsEdited by Christopher Tolkien. UK HarperCollins first impression, bound in the publisher's purple boards lettered in gilt to the spine; the copyright page shows only the 1993 date with no later impressions indicated. ISBN 0-261-10304-0. A first-issue dust jacket should retain its printed price on the front flap. UK HarperCollins edition is the true first; the US Houghton Mifflin edition (ISBN 0-395-68092-1) followed. Per figures from HarperCollins, 5,978 copies of the first impression were printed, a portion of them taken by Book Club Associates for their own issue. A Book Club Associates (BCA) issue was produced from the first impression; the trade first is identified by the HarperCollins imprint and the purple boards, with only the 1993 date and no later impression numbers on the copyright page.
• The War of the Jewels (HoME vol. 11) — 1994 · HarperCollinsThe History of Middle-earth volume 11, edited by Christopher Tolkien. UK first: HarperCollins, London, 1994, ISBN 0-261-10315-6 for the standard issue (470 pages). The copyright page shows only the 1994 date with no later-impression numbers; per Tolkien-bibliography records the title went to one impression only (about 4,568 copies of the first impression), so a correct copy will show no impression line beyond the…. The UK HarperCollins edition is the true first; the US Houghton Mifflin (Boston) edition followed later the same year and is set from the UK sheets. Later impressions or reset editions are noted on the copyright page; because the first went to a single impression, any copy carrying an impression number higher than the first, or a HarperCollins later-printing statement, is not the 1994 first.
• The Peoples of Middle-earth (HoME vol. 12) — 1996 · HarperCollinsEdited by Christopher Tolkien; the twelfth and final volume of The History of Middle-earth. UK HarperCollins first edition, first impression, published 2 September 1996; the copyright page carries the first-impression statement with no later impressions listed. Issued in a dust jacket; on the true UK first the jacket is unclipped and unpriced (export-style), and the volume completes the HoME series. UK HarperCollins first impression (2 September 1996) is the true first, preceding the US Houghton Mifflin edition published 6 December 1996 the same year. The US Houghton Mifflin issue and any later HarperCollins impressions carry the same text but are not the UK first impression; confirm via the copyright-page impression statement.
• Roverandom — 1998 · HarperCollinsEdited by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull. UK first impression, HarperCollins, 1998, identified on the copyright page by the number line 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2, the presence of the '1' marking the first printing. UK HarperCollins true first (January 1998); the US Houghton Mifflin edition, also 1998, follows later that year. Later impressions drop the '1' from the number line; only the line reading 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 marks the first printing.
• The Children of Húrin — 2007 · HarperCollinsEd. Christopher Tolkien, illus. Alan Lee (jacket plus interior illustrations, eight in colour). UK first impression 2007 with printing number line including 1; a deluxe slipcased quarterbound issue with gold Helm of Hador motif also exists. Published simultaneously on 17 April 2007 by HarperCollins in the UK and Houghton Mifflin in the US; the UK HarperCollins printing is the originating edition and the one collectors treat as the true first. The deluxe slipcased issue is the premium format. Book-club and later printings lack the number line to 1.
• The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún — 2009 · HarperCollinsEdited by Christopher Tolkien. UK HarperCollins first edition, first impression, 2009, identified by the full number line including 1 on the copyright page. The trade issue is quarter-bound in black cloth over black paper boards with the spine lettered in gilt, and is issued in the pictorial dust jacket (jacket art by Bill Sanderson) which should retain its printed price, unclipped. A separate deluxe issue…. UK HarperCollins true first, published 5 May 2009; the US first is from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt the same year. Later printings are distinguished by a number line no longer running down to 1.
• The Fall of Arthur — 2013 · HarperCollinsEdited by Christopher Tolkien. UK HarperCollins first impression 2013, with a printing number line including 1. A simultaneous deluxe issue exists: quarterbound with a gilt Arthurian motif stamped on the front board, housed in a matching slipcase, and containing a tipped-in facsimile leaf of Tolkien's original manuscript; it was printed by Clays Ltd, St Ives. UK HarperCollins is the true first, published May 2013; the US first from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt appeared the same year. The deluxe slipcased issue and the standard trade hardback were both published in 2013. Later printings are identified by a number line no longer beginning at 1; the deluxe issue is distinguished by its quarterbinding, gilt-stamped board, slipcase, and facsimile manuscript leaf.
• Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary — 2014 · HarperCollinsEdited by Christopher Tolkien; includes the tale Sellic Spell. UK HarperCollins first edition, first impression, May 2014. The standard trade hardcover (ISBN 9780007590063) carries a dust jacket reproducing Tolkien's own dragon design; a true first impression shows the printer's key including 1 on the copyright page. A deluxe issue (ISBN 9780007590070) was also published: quarter-bound in black leather with grey…. UK HarperCollins is the true first, published May 2014; the US first is from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt the same year. The deluxe slipcased issue and the standard trade hardcover were both first-published in 2014; the standard trade hardcover is the ordinary first edition. No book club edition. Later impressions differ; a first impression is identified by the printer's key including 1.
• The Story of Kullervo — 2015 · HarperCollinsEdited by Verlyn Flieger. UK HarperCollins first edition, first impression, London 2015 (ISBN 0008131368 / 9780008131364), octavo of xxiii plus 168 pages with a complete descending number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. Bound in publisher's burgundy boards with gilt titling to the spine, with a colour frontispiece and blue endpapers, in the original pictorial dust jacket bearing the printed price. UK HarperCollins is the true first; the US Houghton Mifflin Harcourt edition (also edited by Flieger) followed in April 2016. No book-club edition; the first-impression tell is the full number line ending in 1, later impressions ending in a higher digit.
• Beren and Lúthien — 2017 · HarperCollinsEdited by Christopher Tolkien and illustrated by Alan Lee (eight full-page colour plates plus in-text drawings and the wraparound jacket art). Standard UK HarperCollins first printing is bound in black textured cloth boards with gilt titling to the spine and carries a full descending number line ending in 1 beneath the "First published 2017" statement on the copyright page; the pictorial Alan Lee wraparound dust…. The UK HarperCollins edition (published 1 June 2017) is generally taken as the true first; the US Houghton Mifflin Harcourt edition appeared the same year. Distinguish the standard cloth issue from the concurrent deluxe slipcased issue. No book-club edition; later HarperCollins printings drop the 1 from the number line.
• The Fall of Gondolin — 2018 · HarperCollinsEdited by Christopher Tolkien and illustrated by Alan Lee, published by HarperCollins, London, August 2018. The trade first edition, first impression is bound in black cloth boards and has a number line ending in 1 on the copyright page; it contains eight colour plates, black-and-white chapter head- and tail-pieces, and a folding map to the rear, all in Alan Lee's dust jacket. A separately issued deluxe edition,…. The UK HarperCollins edition is generally taken as the true first; the US Houghton Mifflin Harcourt edition (Boston/New York, 2018, typeset identically) appeared the same year and its trade issue likewise carries a number line ending in 1. Later printings differ in the number line. The US Science Fiction Book Club issue is distinguished from the trade edition by the absence of a copyright-page number line.
• The Nature of Middle-earth — 2021 · HarperCollinsEdited by Carl F. Hostetter. The UK HarperCollins edition was first published in September 2021; the standard trade hardcover is the first impression, with a number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. HarperCollins also issued a deluxe slipcased edition the same year, stamped in gold foil on heavyweight acid-free paper, with a ribbon marker and housed in a custom matching slipcase; it is a distinct issue…. The UK HarperCollins and US Houghton Mifflin Harcourt editions appeared the same month in 2021; the UK issue is generally preferred as the first. Later impressions carry a number line no longer ending in 1; no book-club issue is recorded for this recent title.

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