# Is "The Story of Kullervo" by J.R.R. Tolkien a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Story of Kullervo by J.R.R. Tolkien (HarperCollins, 2015) is identified by: Edited by Verlyn Flieger. UK HarperCollins is the true first; the US Houghton Mifflin Harcourt edition (also edited by Flieger) followed in April 2016.

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

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | J.R.R. Tolkien |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
| Year | 2015 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Edited by Verlyn Flieger |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Edited 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.

## Is this the true first?
UK HarperCollins is the true first; the US Houghton Mifflin Harcourt edition (also edited by Flieger) followed in April 2016.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition; the first-impression tell is the full number line ending in 1, later impressions ending in a higher digit.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Story of Kullervo* by J.R.R. Tolkien a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-story-of-kullervo
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.