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The U.S. Tolkien archive project aims to compile the complete
printing history of Tolkien books in the United States, taking factors into account
that are not commonly addressed by other sources, such as cover designs, original RRP
(Regular Retail Price) and other data for reprints. If you just said, "What? Why??"
there's an origin story, naturally. Most of the minutia will be
omitted from the guide. I do not promise that it is completely up to date, or that material
still included is not dated.
The final update to this website will be in September of 2023. All the information needed to do the research and make an informed purchase is here: photos, publishers, dates and ISBNs (what's an ISBN -?) if applicable. ISBN is searchable; use no spaces or dashes. Other identifying numbers used are PBN (a publisher book number which cannot be standardized) and SBN (a post-1970 PBN, standardized by adding the missing country code, publisher ID, and check digit). These may or may not produce search results in book markets. Brief descriptions of dust jacketed book covers are usually included. |
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| Any volume with a unique, verifiable book number is listed. A few search tips, such as common vendor errors and "shortcuts", are included in the brief notes. Significantly different cover variants for each edition are shown, but not every minute variation between printings is described. Hammond and Anderson do not live here, ha. | Other cover designs may have been used for library bindings, playscripts or print-on-demand copies besides the ones shown. Unverified or questionable information (if any) that seemed important to include has been noted as such; otherwise it has been omitted. | |
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The Vintage Reference & Criticism Index is a similar list, but it is not a guide.
Before such a broad spectrum of material could be called a guide, more than publishing
information would really need to be furnished. The books are categorized - by what the
books claim to be and on a best perceived match basis. This means you are going to find Day
and Hammond and Scull on the same page. And, no notes or content descriptions are included,
so expect to do some sifting and further research to get what you want. There are currently no plans to include journals, fanzines, anthologies containing Tolkien works amongst other things, Tolkien "themed" activity or blank books, stationery, other ephemera, games, visual media, or film soundtracks. Brilliant online references to UK book editions, calendars, and other articles already exist; please visit the links page to find information about such things. Publishing information has been thoroughly researched, though editing errors are Before you reproduce my content - best read this. | All guide pages open in the same
new window - no need to keep closing it . . . to surf in just one window,
close the index, and reopen it from the guide page. The links page works in a similar fashion.  Thanks for stopping by : ) |
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| There will also never be lists of things which cannot be broadly defined as books or media here, such as: posters, puzzles, toys, statues, jewelry, clothing, fan art, housewares, Christmas decorations ...Gollum scented air fresheners...... cool as some of those things truly are. But questions regarding anything Tolkien are welcome. |