Blackwell's is just putting whatever tentative information they received from the publisher into their database. Absolutely everything should be considered placeholder until much closer to the eventual date of publication.

It is not unusual for there to be no "format" information available, in which case the bookseller defaults to something (like paperback).

I will just add, "rah rah Carl, keep writing!" and leave it at that. ?

Even though all information is tentative, here's hoping the publication date can be met :)

Book Depository and lehhmans DE have listed it too for similar prices. Seems incredibly high. Must be either a deluxe edition or just a holding price.

Book Depository states the format is “mixed media” and not “paperback”.

I agree with others that there are just placeholders, and I also think this is the deluxe edition listing (based on the price).

Here what I found today through bookbinder.com. It is listed on Amazon.de and Amazon.es but interestingly you cannot find it by entering ISBN 978-0008440572. It opens up via link provided with bookbinder.com. Here it is https://www.amazon.de/dp/0008440573?ta ... guage=de_DE&selectObb=new

Unfortunately for my delivery region (Ukraine) it shows "This item cannot be shipped to your selected delivery location. Please choose a different delivery location." for now. Don't know why, but it sometimes does this way for very early pre-order items.

Any wild speculation on whether this will be printed to match the rest of the History of Middle Earth hardbacks? After all, it's got the seal of approval from the Tolkien estate, and is being marketed as an extension of HoME...

I think we can, hopefully, expect the design style to be 'similar, yet different' in the way that The History of the Hobbit was different from The History of Middle-earth.

Worst case, if it doesn't, no big deal - Unfinished Tales is considered by some to be 'linked' to The History of Middle-earth, and aside from the purple HarperCollins edition, I can't think of any times that UT matched the design style of HoM-e.

Oh sure, I'm mostly just glad to be getting more primary-source Tolkien, even if it is through a secondary source. But I can dream! Personally, I think HC ought to include the purple UT in their PoD series...

Caudimordax wrote:

Personally, I think HC ought to include the purple UT in their PoD series...

THIS.

Caudimordax wrote:

Any wild speculation on whether this will be printed to match the rest of the History of Middle Earth hardbacks? After all, it's got the seal of approval from the Tolkien estate, and is being marketed as an extension of HoME...

Just a wild guess, but I would guess that it will not be fully marketed as volume 14 of the HoMe series (ie it will not say "History of Middle-earth Volume 14" on the book itself). Neither will Unfinished Tales. Just too confusing!

It might well mention HoMe in the blurb, as the contents fit nicely into the theme of HoMe, but I think the 12 extant volumes are what they are, and any new material (including Nature) will come out as standalone books on a particular topic delving deeper into the History.