TolkienBooks.net have published a new article in the Early Publishing History of The Lord of the Rings series.
By sifting through over 10,000 letters from the Allen & Unwin Archive (a task that took over a year) they have found enough information to be able to reconstruct the Printing and Binding History of the First Edition of The Lord of the Rings (1954-1966).
The article compares the different quantities reported for the first impressions of each volume with the figures found in the Allen & Unwin publishing ledgers. It goes on to give details of the total quantity printed for each impression of the First Edition, the number of A&U copies bound and the number of copies exported to the United States to be published by Houghton Mifflin. The quantities printed in those early years do seem almost insignificant when compared to the millions of copies sold since interest in Middle-earth really started to blossom in the mid-60s. Also included are details of the various proof and advance copies produced between 1953 and 1955.
More...
By sifting through over 10,000 letters from the Allen & Unwin Archive (a task that took over a year) they have found enough information to be able to reconstruct the Printing and Binding History of the First Edition of The Lord of the Rings (1954-1966).
The article compares the different quantities reported for the first impressions of each volume with the figures found in the Allen & Unwin publishing ledgers. It goes on to give details of the total quantity printed for each impression of the First Edition, the number of A&U copies bound and the number of copies exported to the United States to be published by Houghton Mifflin. The quantities printed in those early years do seem almost insignificant when compared to the millions of copies sold since interest in Middle-earth really started to blossom in the mid-60s. Also included are details of the various proof and advance copies produced between 1953 and 1955.
More...
