Author · 1892 to 1973

J. R. R. Tolkien books in order

J. R. R. Tolkien (1892-1973) was an English philologist and Oxford professor, author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Also wrote as Oxymore

Books: 49
Editions tracked: 63
First editions: 46
Nationality: United Kingdom
Born: Bloemfontein, 1892
Died: Bournemouth, 1973

Official website Wikidata Open Library Search within J. R. R. Tolkien

J. R. R. Tolkien wrote 49 books we track between 1922 and 2023; in publication order they begin with A Middle English Vocabulary (1922).

Life

About J. R. R. Tolkien

Writer

Known as: linguist, poet, university teacher, children's writer
Genres: fantasy, children's literature, poetry, prose
Movement: Inklings
Citizenship: United Kingdom
Also wrote as: Oxymore

Background

Educated at: University of Oxford, Exeter College, King Edward's School, St. Philip's School
Influenced by: George MacDonald, Edward Wyke-Smith, Jules Verne, H. Rider Haggard, Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany, Edward Burne-Jones
Buried: Oxford

Awards and honours

Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1972)
Prometheus Award - Hall of Fame (2009)
Nebula Award for Best Script (2003)
Nebula Award for Best Script (2004)
Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel (1978)
Nebula Award for Best Script (2002)
Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation (2002)
Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form (2003)

Notable works

The Hobbit
The Lord of the Rings
The Silmarillion
Tree and Leaf
Roverandom
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics

From Wikidata (CC0); Wikipedia has articles on J. R. R. Tolkien in 165 languages.

About J. R. R. Tolkien

J. R. R. Tolkien (1892-1973) was an English philologist and author of The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954-55), the second of which had sold over 150 million copies by 2007.

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, in the Orange Free State, on 3 January 1892. He became Reader in English Language at Leeds in 1920 and professor there in 1924. At Oxford he was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon from 1925 to 1945, with a fellowship at Pembroke College, and Merton Professor of English Language and Literature from 1945 to 1959. He died in Bournemouth on 2 September 1973.

George Allen & Unwin published The Hobbit on 21 September 1937. The Lord of the Rings followed from the same firm in three volumes, a split made to reduce the publisher's risk: The Fellowship of the Ring (29 July 1954), The Two Towers (11 November 1954) and The Return of the King (20 October 1955). Houghton Mifflin issued the American editions. The Silmarillion, edited by his son Christopher Tolkien with help from Guy Gavriel Kay, appeared posthumously from Allen & Unwin on 15 September 1977.

For collectors. The first printing of The Hobbit ran to 1,500 copies and had sold out by December 1937. It carried Tolkien's own black and white illustrations, two endpaper maps and a jacket of his design. Wikipedia reports auction prices of about 6,000 to 20,000 pounds for a first printing, and over 60,000 pounds for a signed copy. The 1951 second edition revised the "Riddles in the Dark" chapter to fit The Lord of the Rings, so first edition text and later text differ.

Collecting guideTolkien First Editions: The Hobbit and The Lord of the RingsA first edition, first impression of The Hobbit is the George Allen & Unwin book of September 1937: 1,500 copies in green cloth, with black and white pictures only. The second impression, … Collecting guideTolkien First Edition Values: The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by BookA first impression of The Hobbit (George Allen & Unwin, 1937) without its jacket has sold for £43,000, and with Tolkien's inscription for £137,000. A Lord of the Rings set of first …

For collectors

Collect J. R. R. Tolkien

Earliest first editionA Middle English VocabularyClarendon Press, 1922 Most valuableThe Hobbit£2,900 to £17,000

First published by

Series

Reading guide

J. R. R. Tolkien books in order

In publication order

1A Middle English Vocabulary1922
2Sir Gawain & the Green Knight1925
3Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary1936
4The Hobbit1937
5The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun1945
6Tolkien On Fairy-stories1947
7Farmer Giles of Ham1949
8The Fellowship of the Ring1954
9The Lord of the Rings1954
10The Two Towers1954
11The Return of the King1955
12The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book1962

Show all 49 books in order

13Tree and Leaf1964
14Smith of Wootton Major1967
15Bilbo's Last Song1973
16Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo1975
17The Father Christmas Letters1976
18The Silmarillion1977
19The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings1979
20Poems and Stories1980
21Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth1980
22The Letters of J.r.r. Tolkien1981
23Mr. Bliss1982
24The Book of Lost Tales1983
25The Book of Lost Tales, Parts One & Two1983
26The Monsters and the Critics, and Other Essays1983
27The Lays of Beleriand1985
28The Shaping of Middle-Earth1986
29The Lost Road and Other Writings1987
30The Return of the Shadow1988
31The Treason of Isengard1989
32The Hobbit1990
33The War of the Ring1990
34Sauron Defeated1992
35Morgoth's Ring1993
36The War of the Jewels1994
37The Peoples of Middle-Earth1996
38Tales from the Perilous Realm1997
39Roverandom1998
40The Children of Húrin2007
41The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún2009
42The Fall of Arthur2013
43The Story of Kullervo2015
44Leaf by Niggle2016
45Beren and Lúthien2017
46The Fall of Gondolin2018
47The Nature of Middle-Earth2021
48The Fall of Númenor2022
49History of the Hobbit2023

By series

The History of Middle-earth 11 books

All 11 in order →

In order

First editions, year by year

And 6 more in the full list below.

Books and editions

Which edition do you have?

A Middle English Vocabulary

J. R. R. Tolkien · first published 1922

1st Clarendon Press1922 Hardback Sold £750 · Dec 2022 I own A Middle English Vocabulary, Clarendon Press 1922 Log in to want this

Sir Gawain & the Green Knight

Norman Davis, E. V. Gordon, J. R. R. Tolkien · first published 1925

1st Clarendon Press1925 Hardback I own Sir Gawain & the Green Knight, Clarendon Press 1925 Log in to want this

Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary

Christopher Tolkien, J. R. R. Tolkien · first published 1936

1st Humphrey Milford for the British Academy1936 Hardback I own Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, Humphrey Milford for the British Academy 1936 Log in to want this

The Hobbit

J. R. R. Tolkien · first published 1937 · Modern First Editions

Worth£2,900 to £17,000

Spot the first: Illustrations: All plates are black and white; there are no colour plates (first impression)

The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun

Verlyn Flieger, J. R. R. Tolkien · first published 1945

1st HarperCollins2016 Other Sold £8 · Sep 2026 I own The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun, HarperCollins 2016 Log in to want this

Tolkien On Fairy-stories

J. R. R. Tolkien · first published 1947

Farmer Giles of Ham

J. R. R. Tolkien · first published 1949

Spot the first: Dust jacket, front flap: Printed price on the front flap: 6s. net (first issue jacket)

1st Allen & Unwin1949 Hardback Sold £700 · Jul 2026 I own Farmer Giles of Ham, Allen & Unwin 1949 Log in to want this

The Fellowship of the Ring

J. R. R. Tolkien · first published 1954 · Modern First Editions

Spot the first: Copyright page: No impression statement; later impressions say Second impression and so on (first impression)

1st George Allen & Unwin1954 Hardback Sold £1,100 · Apr 2021 I own The Fellowship of the Ring, George Allen & Unwin 1954 Log in to want this

The Lord of the Rings

J. R. R. Tolkien · first published 1954 · Folio Society

Spot the edition: Colophon: Printed and bound by W and J Mackay, set in Barbou (1977 to 1979 printings)

The Two Towers

J. R. R. Tolkien · first published 1954 · Modern First Editions

Spot the first: Copyright page: No impression statement; later impressions say Second impression and so on (first impression)

1st George Allen & Unwin1954 Hardback I own The Two Towers, George Allen & Unwin 1954 Log in to want this

The Return of the King

J. R. R. Tolkien · first published 1955 · Modern First Editions

Spot the first: Copyright page: No impression statement; later impressions say Second impression and so on (first impression)

1st George Allen & Unwin1955 Hardback Sold £1,700 · Jun 2025 I own The Return of the King, George Allen & Unwin 1955 Log in to want this

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book

J. R. R. Tolkien · first published 1962

1st Allen & Unwin1962 Hardback I own The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book, Allen & Unwin 1962 Log in to want this

Tree and Leaf

J. R. R. Tolkien · first published 1964

Smith of Wootton Major

J. R. R. Tolkien · first published 1967

1st George Allen & Unwin1967 Hardback Sold £68 · Oct 2026 I own Smith of Wootton Major, George Allen & Unwin 1967 Log in to want this

Bilbo's Last Song

J. R. R. Tolkien · first published 1973

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo

Christopher Tolkien, J. R. R. Tolkien · first published 1975

1st Allen & Unwin1975 Hardback I own Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo, Allen & Unwin 1975 Log in to want this

The Father Christmas Letters

J. R. R. Tolkien · first published 1976

1st George Allen & Unwin1976 Hardback I own Die Briefe Vom Weihnachtsmann, George Allen & Unwin 1976 Log in to want this

The Silmarillion

Christopher Tolkien, J. R. R. Tolkien · first published 1977

Spot the first: Copyright page (p. [6]): printer named as William Clowes (export issue of the first impression)

1st Allen & Unwin1977 Hardback Sold £61 · Oct 2026 I own The Silmarillion, Allen & Unwin 1977 Log in to want this

The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings

J. R. R. Tolkien · first published 1979

Poems and Stories

J. R. R. Tolkien · first published 1980

1st Allen & Unwin1980 Hardback I own Poems and Stories, Allen & Unwin 1980 Log in to want this

Questions collectors ask

Frequently asked questions

What order should I read J. R. R. Tolkien's books in?

In publication order they begin with A Middle English Vocabulary (1922), then Sir Gawain & the Green Knight (1925) and Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary (1936). Books in a series are listed in series order on this page.

What was J. R. R. Tolkien's first book?

The earliest book we list is A Middle English Vocabulary, first published in 1922.

When was J. R. R. Tolkien born?

J. R. R. Tolkien was born in 1892 and died in 1973.

How many J. R. R. Tolkien books does MyVolumes track?

We track 49 books by J. R. R. Tolkien across 63 editions, 46 of them first editions.

What awards has J. R. R. Tolkien won?

J. R. R. Tolkien has won Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1972), Prometheus Award - Hall of Fame (2009), Nebula Award for Best Script (2003), Nebula Award for Best Script (2004), according to Wikidata.

Did J. R. R. Tolkien write under another name?

Yes: J. R. R. Tolkien also published as Oxymore. Those books are listed here under the one author.

Sources

Where these facts come from

J. R. R. Tolkien, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
The Hobbit, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
The Lord of the Rings, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
The Silmarillion, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Every fact on this page was checked against the sources listed. Checked 17 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.