The Return of the King
J.R.R. Tolkien
1973 Ballantine Edition, 39th Printing
Ballantine Books
New York
ISBN: 0345235118
ISBN: 0345240340 (from 1974)
ISBN: 0345248295 (from 1975)
ISBN: 0345253450 (from 1976)
ISBN: 0345272609 (from 1977)
Mass market paperback
544 pp.
Cover illustration by J.R.R. Tolkien
Hammond Page Ref.: p. 119
Notes
39th Printing: September, 1973*
40th Printing: September, 1973**
41st Printing: October, 1973
42nd Printing: December, 1973
43rd Printing: February, 1974
44th Printing: March, 1974
45th Printing: September, 1974***
46th Printing: November, 1974
47th Printing: April, 1975
48th Printing: July, 1975
49th Printing: October, 1975
50th Printing: November, 1975
51st Printing: March, 1976
52nd Printing: June, 1976
53rd Printing: August, 1976
54th Printing: February, 1977
55th Printing: August, 1977
56th Printing: October, 1977
57th Printing: November, 1977
58th Printing: January, 1978
59th Printing: February, 1978
60th Printing: May, 1978
61st Printing: November, 1978
62nd Printing: December, 1978
63rd Printing: August, 1979
64th Printing: 1980?^
Minor cover changes were made throughout the print run such as the removal of the ‘Authorized Edition’ statement on the front and back covers (47th Printing).
The corresponding SBN codes to the ISBNs given above are 345235118 (1973), 345240340 (1974) and 345248295 (1975).
RRP: ISBN and price changes were made with the following printings: 39th Printing ($1.25), 44th Printing ($1.50)**** (not reflected by the copyright page’s SBN until the 45th Printing), 47th Printing ($1.75), 51st Printing ($1.95), 56th Printing ($2.50). Sold in a set with The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers.
*Copies of this printing have been seen bound with the previous edition’s wrappers (with artwork by Barbara Remington) perhaps due to a surplus which Ballantine was eager not to waste.
**Though credited in the 39th Printing, an appreciation by Peter S. Beagle was actually added to the preliminaries with the 40th Printing.
***With the 45th Printing, the full ‘U.S. Printing History’ list was no longer printed.
****Surplus copies of the 40th and 41st Printings were sold with a ‘$1.50’ publisher’s price sticker covering the printed price of $1.25.
^Not yet seen, may not exist.
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| The Hobbit (1973) | The Fellowship of the Ring (1973) | The Two Towers (1973) | The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings (1973) | The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings (1975) |