# Is "The War of the Jewels (HoME vol. 11)" by J.R.R. Tolkien a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The War of the Jewels (HoME vol. 11) by J.R.R. Tolkien (HarperCollins, 1994) is identified by: The History of Middle-earth volume 11, edited by Christopher Tolkien. 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.

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

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | J.R.R. Tolkien |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
| Year | 1994 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The History of Middle-earth volume 11, edited by Christopher Tolkien |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The 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 initial one.

## Is this the true first?
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.

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

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The War of the Jewels (HoME vol. 11)* by J.R.R. Tolkien a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-war-of-the-jewels-home-vol-11
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.