Given they list Finn & Hengest signature as a 2006 Edition and it has the same ISBN as the 2006, it would be annoying if they truly considered that the 1st impression.

HarperCollins has been quite inconsistent with how they treat the signature paperbacks. Sometimes they've done a new ISBN, sometimes the same ISBN but a new 2024/2025 edition (sometimes but not always resetting the impression number) but sometimes they've actually reverted to an earlier edition. For example Lost Road signature is a 37th impression of the "1993" even though there was a 2002 and 2015 and the impression numbers continue from the 2015!

I'll probably write a little article on https://books.digitaltolkien.com/ about these little inconsistencies.

I have been told by HC that the Impression should be 31 for Finn and Hengest, but it was missed. I would imagine that subsequent reprints will start from 32.

Trotter wrote:

I have been told by HC that the Impression should be 31 for Finn and Hengest, but it was missed. I would imagine that subsequent reprints will start from 32.

31 impressions isn't bad for a book whose contents remain completely out of order. I hope that one day a bold editor will decide to re-order the book to make it more accessible to more readers. There's no money in such a time-consuming task (given the internal references would also have to be changed). But I do wonder how many people abandon the book before making it halfway through the glossary of names - which should be near the end of the book - when they could much more easily make sense of things if they had the translations first, followed by the commentary, reconstruction, and background materials.

Tuor son of Huor wrote:

Trotter wrote:

I have been told by HC that the Impression should be 31 for Finn and Hengest, but it was missed. I would imagine that subsequent reprints will start from 32.

31 impressions isn't bad for a book whose contents remain completely out of order. I hope that one day a bold editor will decide to re-order the book to make it more accessible to more readers. There's no money in such a time-consuming task (given the internal references would also have to be changed). But I do wonder how many people abandon the book before making it halfway through the glossary of names - which should be near the end of the book - when they could much more easily make sense of things if they had the translations first, followed by the commentary, reconstruction, and background materials.

These are mostly being collected, I think. I doubt anyone is reading them. It is not the most accessible work, but people like to own stuff with ‘TOLKIEN’ on it, so makes sense to keep on reprinting with each new format.

I was sent copies of Finn and Hengest and the The Battle of Maldon: together with The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth by HarperCollins.
Please note that the Battle of Maldon is not for sale until the end of January.

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The Battle of Maldon: Together with the Homecoming of Beo...

J. R. R. Tolkien (author), Peter Grybauskas (editor), J. R. R. Tolkien
9780008465865
HarperCollins (2026-01-29)

$15.98 Amazon.com (Paperback) - Availability: LEADTIME

£8.47 Amazon.co.uk (Paperback) - Availability: IN_STOCK_SCARCE

€7.99 Amazon.de (Taschenbuch) - Availability: IN_STOCK_SCARCE

$8.88 AbeBooks - Availability: Click to check

$15.33 eBay US - Availability: Click to check

£15.33 eBay UK - Availability: Click to check

Check harpercollins.co.uk • amazon.ca • amazon.es • amazon.fr • amazon.it

I have also been told that The Fall of Arthur has been reprinted as a 'signature' paperback. Though may take a while to replace existing stock.

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The Fall of Arthur (UK Paperback)

J. R. R. Tolkien (author), Christopher Tolkien (editor)
9780007557301
HarperCollins (2015-01-01)

£9.99 HarperCollins (Paperback) - Availability: Click to check

$11.93 Amazon.com (Paperback) - Availability: LEADTIME

£9.49 Amazon.co.uk (Paperback) - Availability: IN_STOCK

€11.99 Amazon.de (Taschenbuch) - Availability: IN_STOCK_SCARCE

£11.03 AbeBooks - Availability: Click to check

$16.07 eBay US - Availability: Click to check

£16.07 eBay UK - Availability: Click to check

Check amazon.ca • amazon.es • amazon.fr • amazon.it

If you are collecting these editions, the first post in this thread contains a list of all the books issued so far.

With Fall of Arthur, the total number comes to 40.

Trotter wrote:

If you are collecting these editions, the first post in this thread contains a list of all the books issued so far.

With Fall of Arthur, the total number comes to 40.

Sees the number 40, looks at lack of shelf space -- and thanks lucky stars that I don't collect HarperCollins paperbacks!

Trotter wrote:

If you are collecting these editions, the first post in this thread contains a list of all the books issued so far.

Thanks Trotter this is very helpful. I like this series and enjoy seeing your new copies as well.

The signature paperbacks were the main reason I implemented the "series covers" view at the Tolkien Books Database

https://books.digitaltolkien.com/series-covers/#signature-pb

although some of the other series are nice too.