According to Tolkienbooks.net 2000 were printed. I had been on look out for a while as they don't show up on the market very often.

http://www.tolkienbooks.net/php/details2.php?id=550

Mr. Underhill wrote:

According to Tolkienbooks.net 2000 were printed. I had been on look out for a while as they don't show up on the market very often.

http://www.tolkienbooks.net/php/details2.php?id=550

Great, another book to look for

My mistake, 2000 copies printed for Tree and Leaf 1988, not 1000. Was confused with the 3 others Unwin Hyman books I was talking about.

To be precise :
Farmer Giles of Ham UH 1990 : First printing, number of impressions not stated (http://www.tolkienbooks.net/php/details2.php?id=272)
The adventures of Tom Bombadil UH 1990: First printing limited to 1000 (http://www.tolkienbooks.net/php/details2.php?id=538)
Smith of Wooton Major UH 1990 : First printing limited to 1000 (http://www.tolkienbooks.net/php/details2.php?id=590)

Emilien wrote:

My mistake, 2000 copies printed for Tree and Leaf 1988, not 1000. Was confused with the 3 others Unwin Hyman books I was talking about.

To be precise :
Farmer Giles of Ham UH 1990 : First printing, number of impressions not stated (http://www.tolkienbooks.net/php/details2.php?id=272)
The adventures of Tom Bombadil UH 1990: First printing limited to 1000 (http://www.tolkienbooks.net/php/details2.php?id=538)
Smith of Wooton Major UH 1990 : First printing limited to 1000 (http://www.tolkienbooks.net/php/details2.php?id=590)

That makes more sense. I figured I would have looked at Tolkienbooks.net and would have remembered a print run of 1,000, whereas 2,000-3,000 is more par for the course for that era.

And now I’ve got both articles based on this interview:)

A bit late, but thought I would combine my April arrivals into a single post:

Locus #149, Tolkien tribute issue, 1973
Hobbit Poster Collection, Alan Lee. 1997
Fantasy Drawing Workshop, John Howe, 2009
The Hobbit (Ukrainian translation), 2012(?) - $7.94 including shipping so why not
The Hobbit (two volume HarperCollins edition), 2012
The Hobbit (Simplified Chinese translation), 2013 - $4.71 including shipping, so why not
Smith of Wootton Major (Extended pocket edition), 2015
Wrath, Ruin and a Red Nightfall, The Art of John Cockshaw, 2016
The Hobbit Audiobook (CD), Andy Serkis, 2020
The Silmarillion (Trade edition) illustrated by Ted Nasmith, 2021

I can't believe you got the two volume Hobbit!!! HA HA!

The John Howe book looks interesting - must acquire a copy.

2 vol Hobbit - yeah ? it came up in a conversation with HC. They are super cheap and plentiful, but such an oddity in publishing history. Worth it to me (for now).

Howe book - there’s a new edition coming out later this year, updated and lots of new material. I’ll be publishing a chat with John about it soonish, and needed the older edition for the Q&A. Might be worth waiting for the new one, but the 2009s aren’t hard to find now.

Urulókë wrote:

2 vol Hobbit - yeah ? it came up in a conversation with HC. They are super cheap and plentiful, but such an oddity in publishing history. Worth it to me (for now).

Howe book - there’s a new edition coming out later this year, updated and lots of new material. I’ll be publishing a chat with John about it soonish, and needed the older edition for the Q&A. Might be worth waiting for the new one, but the 2009s aren’t hard to find now.

Ahh, cool. I'll maybe wait, as you suggest - as the postage is likely to exceed the cost of the book itself.

W/r/t TH, it is definitely important to have a two volume version available, given it is such a long and heavy book.

Stu wrote:

W/r/t TH, it is definitely important to have a two volume version available, given it is such a long and heavy book.

My understanding is the children’s group at HC was planning on breaking TH into three “young reader” chapbooks. The switch was made to two volumes to align with the movies. They had just been printed when the studio changed to three movies, ironically.