# Is "Tree and Leaf" by J.R.R. Tolkien a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Tree and Leaf by J.R.R. Tolkien (George Allen & Unwin, 1964) is identified by: First edition, first impression, London: George Allen & Unwin, 1964, with the first-impression statement on the verso and no later impressions listed (Hammond & Anderson A7b). 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.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First 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 its printed price to the flap
- Publisher imprint reads George Allen & Unwin
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | J.R.R. Tolkien |
| Publisher | George Allen & Unwin |
| Year | 1964 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first impression, London: George Allen & Unwin, 1964, with the first-impression statement on the verso and no later… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First 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 its printed price to the flap.

## Is this the true first?
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.

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

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Tree and Leaf* by J.R.R. Tolkien a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/tree-and-leaf
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.