Understanding Editions & Impressions

This is the single most important concept in Tolkien collecting.

An edition refers broadly to a particular setting or version of the text. An impression, or printing, refers to a production run made from that setting.

For Tolkien collectors, the hierarchy is generally as follows:

• First edition, first impression: the earliest and usually most valuable form.
• First edition, later impression: still collectible, but generally worth substantially less.
• Second or later edition: produced from reset or revised text and usually less valuable, particularly in the case of The Lord of the Rings.

Small textual corrections, typographical changes, and resetting occurred between impressions. Detailed bibliography is therefore essential.

Collecting J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit

First published in 1937, The Hobbit was Tolkien’s first major literary success and remains one of the central books of modern fantasy.

It is also bibliographically complex. Relatively small distinctions between impressions can produce very large differences in desirability and value.

Collecting The Hobbit therefore requires more than identifying a copy as a “first edition.” The collector must consider:

• Impression and textual state.
• Illustrations.
• Binding and dust jacket.
• Wartime production characteristics.
• British and American issue states.
• The relationship between Allen & Unwin and Houghton Mifflin.

A copy that appears superficially early may belong to a later textual state, while an apparently modest later impression may still be highly desirable within the right collection.

The first four impressions belong to the first edition. The fifth impression, published in 1951, begins the second edition.

The first edition preserves the original form of Bilbo’s encounter with Gollum. The second edition introduces the revised narrative that aligns the book more closely with The Lord of the Rings.

The earliest impressions are also physically distinctive. Differences in colour illustration, paper, bindings, dust jackets, and wartime production all affect desirability.

The First Edition of The Hobbit, 1937–1946

The first edition consists of four impressions. The first impression of 1937 has clear bibliographical priority and occupies the highest position in the market.

The second impression of the same year is also highly important, particularly because it introduces colour illustrations absent from the first. The third and fourth impressions remain part of the first edition, although wartime and post-war production affected their physical appearance.

A total of 8,950 copies were bound and sold across the four principal George Allen & Unwin impressions, in addition to 3,000 Children’s Book Club copies. Surviving examples are genuinely scarce, particularly with their original dust jackets.

The fifth impression marks the beginning of the second edition and forms an important dividing line in both bibliography and value.

From this point onwards, the publication history becomes substantially more complicated. It includes:

• Allen & Unwin copies for the British market.
• Sheets exported for Houghton Mifflin in the United States.
• Increasingly large print runs.
• New bindings and jacket states.
• The first paperback edition.

These later impressions are far more obtainable and generally less expensive. By comparison, only 8,950 copies were bound across the first four principal impressions, whereas at least 61,400 copies had been produced by 1965, and probably considerably more than 150,000, since the quantities for several impressions remain uncertain.

The Second Edition of The Hobbit

A Practical Collecting Hierarchy for The Hobbit

Common Mistakes When Collecting The Hobbit

• Describing any early copy as a “first edition” without identifying the impression.
• Failing to understand that the first edition comprises four impressions, and only those four.
• Confusing Allen & Unwin copies with Houghton Mifflin export states. In general, Allen & Unwin copies are more desirable.
• Assuming that a worn first impression must always be preferable to a much stronger early later impression.
• Failing to verify that the dust jacket belongs to the correct impression.

Precision is essential. A dust jacket lacking its inner flaps, where much of the impression-specific evidence appears, may be extremely difficult to authenticate and could have been transferred from a later copy.

Across all impressions, the principal determinants of value are:

• The correct impression.
• The presence of the original binding.
• The presence and condition of the original dust jacket.
• The absence of rebinding or substantial restoration.

A copy without its dust jacket will almost always be materially less desirable than an equivalent jacketed copy.

Collecting J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings

Like The Hobbit, the original British printings of The Lord of the Rings were issued by George Allen & Unwin. Sheets were also supplied to the American publisher Houghton Mifflin.

Some American copies were printed with Houghton Mifflin title pages, while others were converted through cancel title leaves. This makes the American issue history particularly complex.

In general, British Allen & Unwin copies are considered more desirable.

The Lord of the Rings was not initially issued as a single volume, but in three parts:

1. The Fellowship of the Ring
2. The Two Towers
3. The Return of the King

The three volumes were not printed in equal quantities. Consequently, complete first-impression sets are scarcer than the survival rate of any individual volume might suggest.

The first impression of The Fellowship of the Ring is the most difficult to obtain. The first impression of The Return of the King is the easiest, owing to its much larger print run.

The print-run figures below derive from the Allen & Unwin ledgers recorded by Wayne G. Hammond. It was unusual for an entire impression to be bound at once. Copies were normally bound in several batches, sometimes over the course of a year or more.

Subtle binding and issue differences can therefore occur, and the earliest identifiable states are generally the most desirable.

The Fellowship of the Ring: Impression Bibliography

The stated date can be identified on the reverse of the title page. The final date listed corresponds to the impression, with earlier impressions normally also recorded.

The Two Towers: Impression Bibliography

As with The Fellowship of the Ring, the impression is normally identified by the final date listed on the reverse of the title page.

The Return of the King: Impression Bibliography

The first impression of The Return of the King was printed in a significantly larger quantity than the first impressions of the preceding two volumes. It is consequently the easiest first impression of the trilogy to acquire.

A Practical Collecting Hierarchy for The Lord of the Rings

What Actually Matters to Collectors?

1. Impression

   This is the essential starting point. A first-impression set occupies a very different market position from a group of later early impressions.

2. Dust Jackets

   As with most major twentieth-century literature, the dust jackets are critical. The difference in value between jacketed and unjacketed copies can be immense.

   Aside from the impression, jacket condition is often the greatest determinant of value.

3. Matching Sets

   Many surviving sets are mixed, and there is nothing inherently wrong with this. Matching sets of genuinely early impressions, however, are significantly more desirable.

4. Originality

   Original cloth, original dust jackets, unrestored condition, and the absence of heavy repair are all important.

   A technically cleaner set is not necessarily the better set. Rebound copies are generally less desirable than copies retaining their original bindings, even where the replacement binding is visually attractive.

5. Anglo-American Issue State

   For advanced collectors, it matters whether the copy was issued for Allen & Unwin, printed for Houghton Mifflin, or converted through a cancel title page.

Common Mistakes When Collecting The Lord of the Rings

• Describing any early set as a “first edition” without identifying the impressions.
• Assuming that the three volumes are equally scarce.
• Ignoring the importance and condition of the dust jackets.
• Treating mixed sets as equivalent to matching sets.
• Failing to distinguish Allen & Unwin issues from Houghton Mifflin states.
• Overlooking the role of Reader’s Union copies, Deluxe Editions, and other offshoots in a specialist collection.
• Treating rebound copies as equal or superior to copies in their original bindings. Except where an original binding is severely compromised, this is generally incorrect.

Principal Bibliographical References

The following are among the principal references for serious work on Tolkien’s publication history. The first is especially important, although copies can be difficult to obtain.

1. Wayne G. Hammond, with the assistance of Douglas A. Anderson, J. R. R. Tolkien: A Descriptive Bibliography (1993).
2. Rayner Unwin, George Allen & Unwin: A Remembrancer (1999).
3. The Tolkien Collector, Issues 20–22, particularly Steven M. Frisby’s work on identifying Houghton Mifflin first-edition printings.
4. Allen & Unwin Archive, University of Reading Library Special Collections.
5. Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond, The J. R. R. Tolkien Companion & Guide: Chronology (2006).