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Do you own a copy of The Lord of the Rings? If you do, you could be in for a surprise. In this article, we will uncover the secrets behind first-edition J.R.R. Tolkien novels to find out just how valuable they are.
Since the release of The Lord of the Rings following the successful launch of Tolkien's first book, The Hobbit, it has seen success after success, leading to over 150,000,000 copies printed to date. We aren’t just going to be looking at your average copy of The Lord of the Rings however, we are going to be examining the true first editions and explaining how you can identify them.
We are going to be exploring some tips and tricks to help you identify what a first-edition Lord of the Rings book looks like and how to spot a fake. We will also be taking a look at first-edition copies of The Hobbit and The Silmarillion, as well as some of Tolkien’s other lesser-known titles.
So, if you have an old copy of The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, or The Silmarillion, now’s the time to dig it out and see if you are unknowingly in possession of a first-edition Tolkien classic.
So, grab yourself a cuppa, get comfortable, and let’s get started.
Reader's Note: Throughout this article, we will be referring to ‘first edition’ and ‘first printing’, these are phrases that come up a lot when considering rare literature, but they both have different meanings, here's what they mean:
First Edition: A 'first edition' book is a copy of the first version of the book. A second edition is a version of a book after adjustments are made to the original. These can be in the form of new artwork, corrected errors, or simply changes in the wording.
First Printing: 'First printings' (or 'first impressions') are the copies of a book that are part of the first print run of an edition. For example, if a new edition of a book is released with new cover art, the first printings will be the ones that are printed first.
The size of print runs varies from book to book, it's common to find that books written by relatively less well-known authors or books that are the first of their series have a much smaller number of first edition, first printing copies. This is due mainly to the fact that the publisher can’t guarantee the book's success and is less willing to invest in large-scale printing straight away.
For true collectors, a first printing of a first edition is the ultimate goal as these tend to be the rarest, but later printings and editions can still hold significant value.
Before we begin, just a warning, the following content may contain some spoilers so if you haven’t already read any of the Tolkien books, continue with care.
Born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, in 1892, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, more commonly known today as J.R.R. Tolkien is best known as the author of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Tolkien’s contributions to the high fantasy genre aren’t his only achievements however, during his professional career he was the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon history at the University of Oxford. He later took the position of Professor of English Language and Literature at the same university.
For the sake of chronology, we are going to start with the first of Tolkien’s published novels, The Hobbit. Being the first of Tolkien’s novels and the book that has inspired multiple modern adaptations including Peter Jackson’s film trilogy that took the same name, a first edition of The Hobbit has been valued at up to £40,000 depending on condition.
The Hobbit follows an unsuspecting hobbit (otherwise known as a halfling) of the shire on an epic adventure that takes him and his new dwarven companions on an adventure to reclaim the Lonely Mountain, the ancestral home of the dwarves.
Published on the 21st of November 1937, the first print run only consisted of 1,500 books, which sold out in just under three months. Since then, The Hobbit has sold around 100,000,000 copies worldwide, which means that the 1,500 first printings of the first editions make up around 0.0015% of all the copies in existence. The passage of time has only made them even rarer due to the inevitable disappearance and damage of some books.
When you come to identify a true first printing of a first edition The Hobbit you need to look for the following details:
You would be incredibly lucky to find a first-edition copy of any The Lord of the Rings book, but getting your hands on the entire first-edition trilogy is a feat that all book collectors dream of. Estimates put the value of each first-edition The Lord of the Rings book between £500 and £30,000 depending on condition, but the complete first-edition Lord of the Rings trilogy can be worth up to £130,000.
As you might expect true first editions of The Lord of the Rings trilogy are rare, due to the publisher not being 100% sure how successful the books were going to be, the first editions were printed sparingly. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring book was released on the 29th of July 1954 and consisted of 3,000 first edition copies, The Two Towers book was released on the 11th of November 1954 and consisted of 3250 first edition copies, and finally, The Return of the King book was released on the 20th of October 1955 with 7,000 first edition copies.
The Lord of the Rings takes place around 60 years after the events of The Hobbit and continues the story of the ring found by Bilbo in the depths of the Goblin Kingdom. Over the course of the three books, the reader is taken on another epic adventure across Middle Earth, this time to bring about the destruction of the One Ring and prevent it from falling into the hands of the Dark Lord Sauron.
So, how can you tell if your copy of The Lord of the Rings is a first edition or not? Find all the details below in your copy and you could have a first edition. But remember, your book needs ALL of the below details to be a first edition copy of The Lord of the Rings:
A common query when it comes to the legitimacy of first editions of The Lord of the Rings is the fact that later books in the same series are listed on the dust jackets of The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, this is because the books that come later in a series are usually not finished by the time their predecessors are printed. The Lord of the Rings, however, is an exception, as we mentioned earlier, the entire book had already been written by and given to the publisher, and it was only then that the decision was made to split the book into three volumes.
Finally, we come to The Silmarillion. After the success of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, Tolkien hoped to one day publish his Mythology of Middle Earth, but as the years went on, he found it harder and harder to devote time to making this dream come true. Sadly, he passed away on the 2nd of September of 1973 before he could publish Mythology of Middle Earth, he did however, entrust his legacy to his youngest son, Christopher. Christopher, like his father, was a lecturer at the University of Oxford and was heavily involved in the inception of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Eventually, Christopher was able to get The Silmarillion published by Allen & Unwin in 1977.
Unlike previous titles from J.R.R. Tolkien, first editions of The Silmarillion are quite easy to come by and are worth a relatively small amount, costing around £100 to £500 for a copy in good condition. From a collector’s point of view, a first edition of The Silmarillion is a great way to get started.
Copies of The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit signed by J.R.R. Tolkien himself are scarce, so if you find yourself looking to add a signed copy to your collection you are going to need to write a big check.
Putting a value on a genuine signed copy of The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit is difficult as the price range varies so much, but if you do manage to find one you can expect to pay anything from a few thousand for a signed copy of a later edition, to £500,000 for a complete, signed first-edition Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The books that we have mentioned so far aren’t the only work by J.R.R. Tolkien worthy of note, even after his death in 1973, Tolkien’s works continued to be published by his children and living relatives. Take a look at some of J.R.R. Tolkien’s other works published both before and after his death.
We’ve seen our fair share of old copies of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit here at WeBuyBooks. Take a look at some of these examples.
(First Thus - this means the book is not the first appearance of a first printing, but it is the first appearance of the printing after a substantial change i.e. altered artwork, different language etc.)
(Due to the popularity and success of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, fakes and pirated copies were common around the time of printing)
So, that brings our guide on how to identify a first edition copy of The Lord of the Rings to an end, now it’s time to take what you have learned to see if you have any old first edition Tolkien books hidden away. We hope this guide has helped you in your search for the ever elusive first edition Tolkien classics and we wish you all the best in your search. But never forget, if you find yourself muttering "my precious" under your breath, it might be time to take a break…
Don't worry if your Tolkien collection aren't first editions, you can still sell them and make yourself some extra cash! Use the WeBuyBooks app and follow the simple steps below to sell you books:
1. Use the WeBuyBooks appto scan the barcode on your books or enter the ISBN into the search bar.
2. Get an instant valuation, accept your offer, and pick your payment method.
3. Box your items, print the postage label, and send it with our designated courier for FREE.
4. Relax! Once we’ve received your items, we’ll check them and pay you the next day.
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