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Houghton Mifflin 50th anniversary Lord of The Rings question

11 Apr, 2023
2023-4-11 11:36:19 PM UTC

Hello everyone, this is my first post here on the forum but not my first time reading.

Does anyone know how many prints the dark grey HM (US) version of the 50th anniversary edition is up to by now? Does it mirror the UK reprints?

I have the same question for the children of Hurin deluxe edition, apparently the HM print is less then the UK in reprints, likely from having an initial larger number of books printed, or am I way off course assuming so? The HM version seems harder to find in the sense that it seems to be priced higher then the UK version.

I'm trying to figure out these tings to better understand the market as I am looking to buy a first edition of them both but wish to understand the market a bit better first, it's a bit of a job being quite a few years and reprints behind.

Especially the HM Lord of The Rings 50th one seems to be priced all over the place and hard to find first editions of.
12 Apr, 2023 (edited)
2023-4-12 12:52:34 AM UTC
The HMH 50th LOTR went at least to the 11th print. I bought one in 2020 and it’s an 11. Pictured below next to my first print.

90A92C85-E048-431E-99C0-2F5C0B1B1BF9.jpeg
8E7A1F50-7197-4163-95CD-66F532DA8778.jpeg

While a friend bought a new volume of the UK HC 50th deluxe just last year and got a 14th print. Also as an aside while the deluxe HarperCollins LOTR volume is still in print and can be bought new, I believe the HMH LOTR is now out of print and can only be purchased on the secondary market or from existing dealer stock

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The Lord of the Rings: 50th Anniversary Deluxe (UK, HB)

HarperCollins (2004-10-18)


£100.00 HarperCollins (Hardback) - Availability: Click to check
$124.03 Blackwell's (hardback) - Availability: Usually dispatched within 48 hours
£76.00 Amazon.co.uk (Hardcover) - Availability: Now
€79.99 Amazon.de (Gebundene Ausgabe) - Availability: Now
£93.58 AbeBooks - Availability: Click to check
£18.50 eBay UK - Availability: Click to check

This site uses affiliate links for which we may be compensated

The Lord of the Rings (50th Anniversary US Edition)

William Morrow (2004-10-21)


$150.24 Blackwell's (hardback) - Availability: Unknown
$139.95 Amazon.com (Hardcover) - Availability: Now
€unknown Amazon.de (Gebundene Ausgabe) - Availability: unknown
$139.95 AbeBooks - Availability: Click to check
$55.00 eBay US - Availability: Click to check


The HMH COH deluxe only got three prints before going out of print which is why it’s harder to come by. (Pictured below as well)

772FBCE5-B872-4D00-9854-65E634CFB2F1.jpeg

While the UK HC COH Deluxe is at least in the 8th print by now. Saw an 8th print copyright page in another group on FaceBook a few months ago.

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The Children of Húrin: Deluxe (UK, HB)

HarperCollins, UK (2007T)


£75.00 HarperCollins (Hardback) - Availability: Click to check
$64.58 Blackwell's (hardback) - Availability: Usually dispatched within 7 days
$87.16 Amazon.com (Hardcover) - Availability: Now
£57.46 Amazon.co.uk (Hardcover) - Availability: Now
€58.56 Amazon.de (Gebundene Ausgabe) - Availability: Now
$58.48 AbeBooks - Availability: Click to check
£15.00 eBay UK - Availability: Click to check

This site uses affiliate links for which we may be compensated

The Children of Húrin

Houghton Mifflin Company (2007-05-16)


$99.42 Blackwell's (hardback) - Availability: Unknown
$87.99 Amazon.com (Hardcover) - Availability: Now
£unknown Amazon.co.uk (Hardcover) - Availability: unknown
€unknown Amazon.de (Gebundene Ausgabe) - Availability: unknown
$85.00 AbeBooks - Availability: Click to check
$14.00 eBay US - Availability: Click to check
£159.99 eBay UK - Availability: Click to check
12 Apr, 2023
2023-4-12 10:08:04 AM UTC
Thank you for the info!
Looks like getting hold of first editions of the HM books will be harder then the UK versions.

Even the non signed children of Hurin first prints seems to be quite pricey compared to others, not yet able to find a stated first edition copy of HM Lord of The Rings for sale.. onwards digging!
13 Apr, 2023
2023-4-13 6:21:26 PM UTC
Just snagged a US copy of CoH first edition on ebay for $70 which seemed like a decent deal, so one down one to go but unable to find any first edition of the HM lotr anywhere. Does anyone have a ballpark what to expect price wise? I'm seeing everything from fifty to well over a hundred dollars for the 50th anniversary HM lotr on the second hand market, but unable to find any listing or info specifically pointing to the first edition.
13 Apr, 2023 (edited)
2023-4-13 6:39:10 PM UTC

Rayeknor wrote:

Just snagged a US copy of CoH first edition on ebay for $70 which seemed like a decent deal, so one down one to go but unable to find any first edition of the HM lotr anywhere. Does anyone have a ballpark what to expect price wise? I'm seeing everything from fifty to well over a hundred dollars for the 50th anniversary HM lotr on the second hand market, but unable to find any listing or info specifically pointing to the first edition.

$70 is probably fine for a 1st print HMH CoH deluxe. The 1st print HMH 50th LOTR are out there, you'll just have to continue to look around and poke dealers for images of copyright pages when not present in the listing. The original list price was $100 or $85 and I'd say if you can get it for around that original total that would be a good price.

5058_64384c46d1af6.jpeg 739X650 px
13 Apr, 2023
2023-4-13 6:49:00 PM UTC
That's interesting that your 50th has the $85 price tag overlaid on it - I've not seen that before, both copies that I bought (a 1st at release and a reprint much later) just had the $100 printed price on them (but that's not what I paid, of course).

If I recall correctly, the "50th" blue edition was in print up until the illustrated edition came out in 2021, so there are likely very plentiful "new" copies still at retailers.
13 Apr, 2023
2023-4-13 6:55:34 PM UTC
Thanks again for your response. I think $70 was a fair price, slightly puzzled over the ones I see asking well over one or even several hundred for unsigned not even first edition HM CoH copies. LOTR looks like it's gonna take some more time tracking down but hopefully it has not over doubled or tripled in price like the recent Folio limited set I keep seeing in my searches sometimes over $3000!
13 Apr, 2023 (edited)
2023-4-13 7:20:49 PM UTC

Urulókë wrote:

That's interesting that your 50th has the $85 price tag overlaid on it - I've not seen that before, both copies that I bought (a 1st at release and a reprint much later) just had the $100 printed price on them (but that's not what I paid, of course).

It is interesting, not seen any others like it (although haven't really looked that hard) I bought it back in 2005 at a Borders bookstore (these aren't around anymore) and that is what I paid for it. One of the earliest Tolkien collectors items I bought actually. Don't know if HMH placed the sticker on it or it was done at the shop...

I bought the 11th print in 2020 when I was stuck at home to use as a reading copy after you recommended it was good for that.
20 March
2024-3-20 1:15:07 AM UTC
For all those no doubt living on the edge of their seats with no sleep since I made this post, I found a first edition first print of the HMH 50th anniversary lotr.

This was surprisingly hard to find, is there any way to see how many copies was in the first run of the first edition? I refuse to believe it was not in the tens of thousands, being such a high profile US release back in 2004.
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