# Is "The Peoples of Middle-earth (HoME vol. 12)" by J.R.R. Tolkien a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Peoples of Middle-earth (HoME vol. 12) by J.R.R. Tolkien (HarperCollins, 1996) is identified by: Edited by Christopher Tolkien; the twelfth and final volume of The History of Middle-earth. UK HarperCollins first impression (2 September 1996) is the true first, preceding the US Houghton Mifflin edition published 6 December 1996 the same year.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Edited 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
- Publisher imprint reads HarperCollins
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | J.R.R. Tolkien |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
| Year | 1996 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Edited by Christopher Tolkien; the twelfth and final volume of The History of Middle-earth |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Edited 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.

## Is this the true first?
UK HarperCollins first impression (2 September 1996) is the true first, preceding the US Houghton Mifflin edition published 6 December 1996 the same year.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
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.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Peoples of Middle-earth (HoME vol. 12)* by J.R.R. Tolkien a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-peoples-of-middle-earth-home-vol-12
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.