The Adventures of Tom Bombadil — 1963 First U.S. Edition, First Printing

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from The Red Book by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Illustrated by Pauline Baynes.
Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1963.
First U.S. Edition, First Printing (October 22, 1963).

A beautiful example of the true First American Edition of The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, printed in 1963 in an edition of only 5,000 copies.

The title page states 1963, and the copyright page reads “First Printing” and “First American Edition 1963,” with Library of Congress card number 63-10658. No ISBN is present, as expected for the first printing (ISBN added only from the 6th printing onward). Printed in the U.S.A.

The book was typeset chiefly from the Allen & Unwin 1962 Second Impression sheets, incorporating the revised order of poems (with “Cat” placed adjacent to its illustration), while retaining the numbering discrepancy in the Preface that remained uncorrected in this edition.

Original publisher’s dust jacket present, correctly priced at $3.50 to the upper corner of the front flap, confirming first printing status. The jacket artwork reproduces Pauline Baynes’ celebrated cover design, with Tom seated by the shore beneath a moonlit sky on the rear panel.

Condition:
Near fine book in near fine dust jacket. The binding remains tight and square. Boards are clean and unfaded. Pages are fresh and bright with no markings. The dust jacket is clean and well-preserved, with only minimal handling wear visible. No restoration. A sharp, collector-grade example.

A scarce and highly desirable early American Tolkien first edition, particularly in this condition and with the correct first printing jacket price.

Photographs shown are of the exact copy offered.

Other Tolkien books available, including UK and US first editions, original cloth bindings, custom fine bindings, and Signed/Numbered/Limited Editions.

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