# Is "The Road Goes Ever On: A Song Cycle (music by Donald Swann)" by J.R.R. Tolkien a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Road Goes Ever On: A Song Cycle (music by Donald Swann) by J.R.R. Tolkien (Houghton Mifflin, 1967) is identified by: US 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. US edition precedes UK here, the reverse of the usual pattern for Tolkien; the 1968 Allen & Unwin printing is the first UK edition only.

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

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | J.R.R. Tolkien |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin |
| Year | 1967 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | US Houghton Mifflin first edition, published 31 October 1967: oblong quarto sheet-music format, red cloth stamped in gilt, dust jacket… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
US 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.

## Is this the true first?
US edition precedes UK here, the reverse of the usual pattern for Tolkien; the 1968 Allen & Unwin printing is the first UK edition only.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The 1978 second edition adds Bilbo's Last Song and is not the first; later reissues add further material.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Road Goes Ever On: A Song Cycle (music by Donald Swann)* by J.R.R. Tolkien a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-road-goes-ever-on-a-song-cycle-music-by-donald-swann
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.