The Lord of the Rings
Collected Editions
This page documents the various editions of The Lord of the Rings that I’ve collected. I appear to have something of a compulsion with regard to this book: at the moment, I own fifteen (fifteen!) different LotR editions. And I’m not even certain why: as much as I love the book, I really can’t explain why I have the urge to pile up so many different editions of it.
As a matter of fact, if anyone would like either the three-volume movie tie-in softcover edition or the earlier 2002 single-volume movie tie-in softcover edition, please let me know. I’m not as attached to those versions as I am to the others, and I could stand to let them go to a good home.
Also, to stave off some of the e-mails I get, let me say: I’m not a collector in the true sense. I don’t pay attention to resale value or frequency of appearance, so I'm afraid I really can’t tell you how rare your edition is, or how much it’s worth. If you’d like to sell an edition not listed here to me, please feel free to contact me, but I'm really not much use on general market consultations.
Anyway, here’re all the versions I have, in something vaguely approaching chronological order of printing:
Publisher: George Allen & Unwin (UK).
Format: Hardcover.
Volumes: 3.
Originally Published: 1966.
Text: Second edition (“revised edition” on dust jackets).
Printing: First (1966).
ISBNs: None.
Description: Dull-green dust jackets, with ring-and-eye motif on front.
Publisher: Ballantine Books (USA).
Format: Softcover.
Volumes: 3.
Originally Published: 1966.
Text: Second edition (“authorized edition” on covers, no edition information on copyright page).
Printing: Thirty-fifth printing (1971) of The Fellowship of the Ring; eleventh printing (1967) of The Two Towers; seventh printing (1966) of The Return of the King.
ISBNs: None.
Description: Cover paintings by Barbara Remington, with green boxed “statement from the author” text on back cover. Parodied by the original cover art for Bored of the Rings (right), which includes its own back-cover statement.
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (USA).
Format: Hardcover w/slipcase.
Volumes: 1.
Originally Published: 1974, revised 1987.
Text: 1987 updated second edition (“1965/1966 edition” on copyright page).
Printing: Twenty-seventh (1994).
ISBN: 0-395-19395-8.
Description: Collector’s Edition bound in red leatherette with matching slipcase.
Publisher: Unwin Paperbacks (UK).
Format: Softcover.
Volumes: 3.
Originally Published: 1981.
Text: 1981 updated second edition (cited as “fourth edition” on copyright page; this reckoning includes the 1979 and 1981 re-typesettings of the three-volume version as editions).
Printing: Seventh (1984).
ISBNs: 0-04-823185-1 (The Fellowship of the Ring); 0-04-823186-X (The Two Towers); 0-04-823187-8 (The Return of the King).
Description: Black spine and rear cover; uncredited cover art.
Publisher: Unicorn/Unwin Paperbacks (UK).
Format: Softcover.
Volumes: 1.
Originally Published: 1983.
Text: 1983 updated second edition (cited as “third edition” on copyright page; this reckoning includes the 1983 re-typesetting of the single-volume version as an edition).
Printing: Eighth (1986).
ISBN: 0-04-823229-7.
Description: Black cover with Roger Garland painting of Barad-dûr.
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (USA).
Format: Hardcover w/dust jacket.
Volumes: 1.
Originally Published: 1991.
Text: Second edition (“1965 edition” on copyright page).
Printing: No printing information.
ISBN: 0-395-59511-8.
Description: Illustrated Centenary edition with dust jacket painting (of the Black Gate) and fifty colour plates, all painted by Alan Lee.
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (USA).
Format: Softcover.
Volumes: 3.
Originally Published: 1994.
Text: 1994 updated second edition.
Printing: Eighth printing (1999) of The Fellowship of the Ring; third printing (1999) of The Two Towers and The Return of the King.
ISBNs: 0-618-00222-7 (The Fellowship of the Ring); 0-618-00223-5 (The Two Towers); 0-618-00224-3 (The Return of the King).
Description: Alan Lee cover art (Rivendell on The Fellowship of the Ring, Orthanc on The Two Towers, Minas Tirith on The Return of the King).
Errata: Missing first line of Gandalf’s two-line quotation from the Ring-inscription in “The Shadow of the Past”.
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (USA).
Format: Softcover.
Volumes: 1.
Originally Published: 1994.
Text: 1994 updated second edition.
Printing: Fourth (1999).
ISBN: 0-395-97468-2.
Description: Alan Lee cover art (Minas Tirith as seen from Osgiliath).
Errata: Missing first line of Gandalf’s two-line quotation from the Ring-inscription in “The Shadow of the Past”.
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (USA).
Format: Hardcover w/slipcase.
Volumes: 7 (one each for Books I-VI, plus Appendices).
Originally Published: 1999.
Text: 1994 updated second edition.
Printing: No printing information.
ISBNs: 0-618-03766-7 (set); 0-618-04220-2 (The Ring Sets Out); 0-618-4221-0 (The Ring Goes South); 0-618-04222-9 (The Treason of Isengard); 0-618-04223-7 (The Ring Goes East); 0-618-04224-5 (The War of the Ring); 0-618-04225-3 (The End of the Third Age); 0-618-04226 (Appendices).
Description: So-called “Millennium Edition” (two years early). Black covers with gold ring/eye motif and matching slipcase. Spines spell out T-O-L-K-I-E-N.
Publisher: HarperCollins (UK).
Format: Hardcover w/slipcase (limited edition: 1,000 copies).
Volumes: 1.
Originally Published: 2000.
Text: 1994 updated second edition.
Printing: No printing information.
ISBN: 0-618-03766-7.
Description: Deluxe cloth/leather-bound edition (printed on India paper) with matching slipcase.
Errata: Missing first line of Gandalf’s two-line quotation from the Ring-inscription in “The Shadow of the Past”.
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (US).
Format: Softcover w/slipcase.
Volumes: 3.
Originally Published: 2001.
Text: 1994 updated second edition.
Printing: First (2001).
ISBNs: 0-618-15396-9 (set); 0-618-12903-0 (The Fellowship of the Ring); 0-618-12908-1 (The Two Towers); 0-618-12911-1 (The Return of the King).
Description: Movie tie-in edition. Spines have triptych photo of Black Riders crossing Bruinen.
Errata: Missing first line of Gandalf’s two-line quotation from the Ring-inscription in “The Shadow of the Past”.
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (US).
Format: Softcover.
Volumes: 1.
Originally Published: 2002.
Text: 1994 updated second edition.
Printing: First (2001).
ISBN: 0-618-26025-0.
Description: Movie tie-in edition.
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (US).
Format: Softcover.
Volumes: 1.
Originally Published: 2002.
Text: 1994 updated second edition.
Printing: First (2001).
ISBN: 0-618-34399-7.
Description: Movie tie-in edition.
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (US).
Format: Hardcover w/slipcase.
Volumes: 1.
Originally Published: 2004.
Text: 2004 updated second edition.
Printing: First (2004).
ISBN: 0-618-51765-0.
Description: 50th Anniversary Edition (with new index) bound in dark grey-brown suede leather with gold-and-copper eye/rings motif on front cover, copper JRRT signature on back cover. Matching slipcase has author/title/edition information on front, JRRT drawing on back. (Despite the inconsistent appearance of my scans, the case and book are in fact the same colour leather.)
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (US).
Format: Hardcover w/dust jacket.
Volumes: 1.
Originally Published: 2005.
Text: 2005 updated second edition.
Printing: First (2005).
ISBN: 0-618-64561-6.
Description: 50th Anniversary Edition with new index. Text incorporates several minor changes over and beyond those made for 2004 edition.
Note on Editions: For a full and remarkably detailed discussion of textual differences between the various editions and printings, I strongly recommend Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull’s masterful The Lord of the Rings: A Reader’s Companion.
This page and all contents ©2007 Douglas Bailey except cover art © by the original publishers cited.
