Stampato in Italia: Rotolito Lombarda SpA, 1998–2002

In 2016, David Brawn—Publishing Director - Estates at HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS—provided some interesting printing and publishing information about the first UK illustrated edition of The Silmarillion (1998); the information he shared was posted online—uncredited, but with permission—at TOLKIEN COLLECTOR'S GUIDE (TCG). While brief, much of the detail was new.

[The original TCG post can be read here.] 

Ted Nasmith was approached by Tolkien's publishers, in October 1996, and asked if he was interested in illustrating The Silmarillion. The UK edition was published by HARPERCOLLINS, in September 1998, to coincide with the twenty-first anniversary of the book's first publication, in 1977. The 1998 edition contains twenty coloured illustrations in total; eighteen internally, two on the front and back covers of the dustjacket. More illustrations were added for the second edition published in 2004.

The following checklist uses the Brawn/TCG information as a framework. I'm also indebted to Holford (TOLKIENBOOKS.NET) for first documenting individual variants, for providing the impetus to collect them, and for establishing the foundation for this type of analysis generally. (I hold Holford entirely to blame for the rows of near-identical books!) Printing priority is based primarily on Brawn; editions are included through to 2002; I have not included the 1998 Deluxe (signed) Edition. Comment and conjecture is my own.

All other detail aside, the primary motivation for writing this was simply to document all of the first Ted Nasmith Maglor-style illustrated editions printed by ROTOLITO LOMBARDA SpA. The Italian printer, founded in 1976, has—fairly or unfairly—a mixed reputation, particularly in respect to the printing of recent Tolkien editions. But this is 1998, not 2024.

I believe all of the variants listed below to be of ROTOLITO/Italian origin. Descriptions of book and dustjacket formats, binding observations, materials, etc—aspects I might normally focus on—I have deliberately kept to a minimum, for reasons of length; images provide some detail in this regard. Checklist codes are my own and are for ease of cross-referencing only. Two abbreviated versions of the checklist are appended.

 

THE SILMARILLION (1998): A PRELIMINARY CHECKLIST OF ROTOLITO PRINTED VARIANTS

 

N.hb.1 | First UK Hb Impression 

London: HarperCollins, Illustrated Ed. 1998. The Silmarillion. Christopher Tolkien (editor); Ted Nasmith (illustrator). ISBN 0 261 10366 0. Printed and bound in Italy by ROTOLITO LOMBARDA SpA. Hardback, black cloth-covered boards. Set in Imprint type. First impression, full line number (1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2). Colour reproduction (of Nasmith plates) by SAXON, Norwich. First state dustjacket, dual price to front flap ‘£19.99 until 31 December 1998 | £24.99 from 1 January 1999’. Published September (7th?) 1998; 25,000 copies, printed June 1998. For later impressions see N.hb.2 and N.hb.3.

UK first Hb impression

 

NOTE: Contemporary advertising material [HarperCollins ‘Tolkien Times: Autumn 1998’ stocklist (c . July 1998)] has both the standard hardback and signed (‘super deluxe’) editions as forthcoming in September 1998. I have interpreted Brawn's June date as the printing (not publishing) date of the edition(s) discussed; printing may have been over several months. The HARPERCOLLINS ‘Official Tolkien Bookshop’ currently gives the publication (‘on sale’) date of the Deluxe Edition as September 7th; the book itself claims publication as September 2nd (inside). Not clear if this online data can (therefore) be relied upon, but the 7th might conceivably be the publication date of the standard edition. Dual priced dustjacket presumed to have priority of printing over all other UK dustjacket states. [Holford ref. 62320; personal copies S.009, S.091].

N.bc.1 | First UK Book Club

Book seemingly identical to N.hb.1. Sold/distributed by BOOK CLUB ASSOCIATES (BCA). Second state dustjacket, unpriced. Publication date (if applicable) not known; 8,500 copies, printed June 1998. For reprint see N.bc.2.

 

NOTE: Printed (‘additional run’) with First UK Hb Impression [Brawn]. Neither BCA or book club indicated; book and dustjacket both marked HARPERCOLLINS. Likely available through book club(s) from (or soon after) September 1998. Unpriced dustjacket presumed to have been preceded by dual priced UK dustjacket state only. [Holford ref. 62320; personal copy S.028 (but see N.bc.2)].

 

US Ed. — Swedish Ed. — French Ed.

N.USA | US Edition

Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998. The Silmarillion. Christopher Tolkien (editor); Ted Nasmith (illustrator). ISBN 0 395 93946 1. Printed and bound in Italy by ROTOLITO LOMBARDA SpA. Hardback, black cloth-covered boards. Set in Imprint type. Dustjacket priced ‘$35.00’ (front flap). Published October 1998; number of copies not known, printed c. June 1998. Not reprinted.

 

NOTE: Printing contemporary with First UK Hb Impression [Brawn]. Impression not indicated; no mention of colour reproduction. Publication date and reprinting detail from TOLKIENBOOKS.US. [Devon Press ref. The Silmarillion (1998); personal copy S.129].

 

N.SWE | Swedish Edition

Stockholm: Norstedts Förlag, New Ed. 1998. Silmarillion. Christopher Tolkien (editor); Ted Nasmith (illustrator). Text in Swedish by Roland Adlerberth. ISBN 91-1-300569-3. Printed [and bound] in Italy by ROTOLITO LOMBARDA SpA. Hardback, black cloth-covered boards. Dustjacket unpriced. Publication date not known; number of copies not known, printed c. June 1998.

 

NOTE: Printing contemporary with First UK Hb Impression [Brawn]. Impression not indicated; no mention of colour reproduction. [Personal copy S.196].

 

N.FRA.1 | French Edition (i)

[Paris]: Christian Bourgois Éditeur, 1998. Le Silmarillion | Les Mythes et Légendes de la Terre-du-Milieu. Christopher Tolkien (editor); Ted Nasmith (illustrator). Text in French. Translated by Pierre Alien. ISBN 2-267-01462-9. [Printed and bound in Italy by ROTOLITO LOMBARDA SpA]. Hardback, black cloth-covered boards. First state dustjacket, priced ‘290 F’ (rear cover, below barcode). Number of copies not known, printed c. June 1998. Publication date not known.

 

N.FRA.2 | French Edition (ii) [Not seen] 

Book identical to N.FRA.1. Second state dustjacket, dual priced ‘49€  321,42F’. Number of copies and printing date not known. See NOTE below.

 

N.FRA.3 | French Edition (iii) [Not seen] 

Book identical to N.FRA.1. Third state dustjacket, priced ‘50€ | Imprimé en Italié’. Number of copies and printing date not known. See NOTE below.

 

NOTE: Printing of N.FRA.1 contemporary with First UK Hb Impression [Brawn]. This is the only copy (in this checklist) to carry the ‘Myths and Legends’ dustjacket sub-title (in this case ‘Les Mythes et Légendes de la Terre-du-Milieu’) on to the title-page itself. No mention of colour reproduction. The French publisher has confirmed—to at least one French collector [Yann Morello]—that the French edition was printed in Italy; I suggest this was carried out by ROTOLITO. None of the books carry printing origin information; the third state dustjacket (only) carries a statement that it was printed in Italy. It is believed the three separate dustjacket states are linked to three separate impressions of the French edition; the practise of not indicating later impressions has been noted with the publisher BOURGOIS before. [See also Yann Morello's Le Silmarillion (1998); personal copy S.206 (N.FRA.1)].

 

Spanish Ed. — Norwegian Ed. — Danish Ed.

N.ESP | Spanish Edition

Barcelona: Ediciones Minotauro, First Illustrated Ed. 1998. El Silmarillion. Christopher Tolkien (editor); Ted Nasmith (illustrator). Text in Spanish. Translated by Rubén Masera and Luis Domènech. ISBN 84-450-7296-X. Printed [and bound] in Italy by ROTOLITO LOMBARDA SpA. Hardback, black cloth-covered boards. Dustjacket unpriced. Published October 1998; number of copies not known, printed c. June 1998.

 

NOTE: Printing contemporary with First UK Hb Impression [Brawn]. Impression not indicated; no mention of colour reproduction. [Personal copy S.201].

  

N.NOR | Norwegian Edition

[Oslo]: Tiden Norsk Forlag, 1998. Silmarillion. Christopher Tolkien (editor); Ted Nasmith (illustrator). Text in Norwegian. Translated by Nils Ivar Agøy, ‘pedigrees and Norwegian names on maps’ by Asmund Aasen. ISBN 82-10-04295-5. Printed and bound in Italy by ROTOLITO LOMBARDA SpA. Hardback, black cloth-covered boards. Printed on 100 GSM paper; set in Garamond type by HEIEN FOTOSATS, Spydeberg. Dustjacket unpriced. Publication date not known; number of copies not known, printed c. June 1998.

 

NOTE: Printing contemporary with First UK Hb Impression [Brawn]. Impression not indicated; no mention of colour reproduction. [Personal copy S.209].

 

N.pb.1 | First UK Pb Impression

London: HarperCollins, Illustrated Ed. 2000. The Silmarillion. Christopher Tolkien (editor); Ted Nasmith (illustrator). ISBN 0 261 10367 9. Printed and bound in Italy by ROTOLITO LOMBARDA SpA. Paperback, sewn page-block. Set in Imprint type. First impression, full line number (1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2). Rear cover price ‘£14.99’. Publication date not known; 6,000 copies, printed in October 2000.

 

UK first Pb impression

 

NOTE: Have recorded printing date as October [Brawn, implied], however HARPERCOLLINS ‘Official Tolkien Bookshop’ currently records the publication date as October (2nd). Not clear which is correct. No mention of colour reproduction. [Holford ref. 62450; personal copy S.067].

N.hb.2 | Second UK Hb Impression

Page-block seemingly identical to N.pb.1. Identical ISBN (0 261 10367 9) to N.pb.1. Printed and bound in Italy by ROTOLITO LOMBARDA SpA. Bound as hardback, black cloth-covered boards. Second impression, indicated by line number (3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2). Third state dustjacket, priced ‘£24.99’. Dustjacket redesigned, new spine illustration and layout. 5,000 copies, printed June 2001. 

 

First state DJ (N.hb.1) — Third state DJ (N.hb.2)

 

NOTE: Holford comments that this variant ‘appears to be the 2nd impression of the 2000 Illustrated Paperback Edition bound as a hardback’. Note, too, that the dustjacket not only has the £24.99 price, but has the new spine layout. This redesign of the dustjacket was seemingly to match the spine with that of the (then forthcoming) 2002 three-volume (reset) edition of The Lord of the Rings. However, Brawn states this change to have taken place with the printing of the third (not second) hardback impression of The Silmarillion (N.hb.3).This is difficult to reconcile. There is no evidence a dustjacket in the first (spine layout) style priced at £24.99 exists [Brawn, implied]. It seems reasonable, therefore, to suggest that the Brawn/TCG information is in error here; and the Holford variant (here described) is in fact the second hardback impression described by Brawn, but with the new spine design. I suggest this, also, as this is the only copy (that I'm aware of) actually marked as a second impression. Dustjacket presumed to have been preceded by both dual priced and unpriced UK dustjacket states. Since the copyright page is based on the paperback edition, there is (again) no mention of colour reproduction.[Holford ref. 62460; personal copy S.063].

 

N.bc.2 | Second UK Book Club

Identical to N.bc.1. Sold/distributed by BOOK CLUB ASSOCIATES (BCA). Full line number (1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2), but second book club impression. Second state dustjacket, unpriced. 3,500 copies, printed June 2001.  

 

NOTE: Printed (‘additional run’) with Second UK Hb Impression [Brawn]. Not clear how this book club impression is distinguishable from the First UK Book Club. Personal copy S.028 could be a first or second book club impression. [Personal copy S.028 (but see N.bc.1)].

 

N.hb.3 | Third UK Hb Impression

Book seemingly identical to N.hc.1. Full line number (1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2), but third impression. Third state dustjacket, priced ‘£24.99’. 10,000 copies, printed March 2002. 

 

NOTE: Aside from the dustjacket, not clear how this impression is distinguishable from the First UK Hb Impression. [Personal copy S.061].

 

N.DAN | Danish Edition

[Copenhagen]: Gyldendal, 2002. Silmarillion. Christopher Tolkien (editor); Ted Nasmith (illustrator). Text in Danish by David Gress-Wright. ISBN 87-02-01020-8. Printed [and bound] in Italy [by ROTOLITO LOMBARDA SpA]. Hardback, black cloth-covered boards. Set in Janson type by VIBORG MASKINSÆTTERI. Dustjacket unpriced. Publication date not known; number of copies not known, printed c. March 2002.

NOTE: Printing contemporary with Third UK Hb Impression [Brawn]. Despite the UK dustjacket having changed by this point, this edition retains the ‘Maglor Casts’ illustration to the spine. Impression not indicated; no mention of colour reproduction. [Personal copy S.207].

 

N.DAN.bc | Danish Book Club [Not seen] 

Presumed similar to N.DAN. Sold/distributed by unknown book club(s). Dustjacket front cover states ‘GYLDENDALS BOGKLUBBER’, lacks Gyldendal logo to dustjacket spine. Publication date (if applicable) not known; number of copies and printing date not known. 

 

NOTE: Images of book club dustjacket seen; correspondence with seller who seemed familiar with both Danish variants. Printing likely contemporary with Danish Edition. Not noted by Brawn.

BINDING NOTE: Bindings are near-identical; visually they differ only in terms of letter-blocking, logos, etc. The orientation of lettering on the French and Spanish editions—both books and dustjackets—should be noted. Aside from the external (dustjacket) illustration swap—see N.hb.2 NOTE—the eighteen internal Nasmith illustrations remain identical and unchanged across every edition, impression, and variant listed; there are minor variations in pagination, however the physical placement of each illustration within the text—derived from the binding position of the nine plates (two illustrations per plate)—is consistent across all copies.

 

 

abbrev. CHECKLIST (full)

N.hb.1 | First UK Hb Impression (Sept. 1998)

N.bc.1 | First UK Book Club (1998)

N.USA | US Edition (Oct. 1998)

N.SWE | Swedish Edition (1998)

N.FRA.1 | French Edition (i) (1998)    

N.FRA.2 | French Edition (ii) (n.d.)

N.FRA.3 | French Edition (iii) (n.d.)

N.ESP | Spanish Edition (Oct. 1998)

N.NOR | Norwegian Edition (1998)

N.pb.1 | First UK Pb Impression (2000)

N.hb.2 | Second UK Hb Impression (2001)

N.bc.2 | Second UK Book Club (2001) 

N.hb.3 | Third UK Hb Impression (2002)

N.DAN | Danish Edition (2002) 

N.DAN.bc | Danish Book Club (c. 2002) 

abbrev. CHECKLIST (UK only)

N.hb.1 | First UK Hb Impression (Sept. 1998)

N.bc.1 | First UK Book Club (1998)

N.pb.1 | First UK Pb Impression (2000)

N.hb.2 | Second UK Hb Impression (2001)

N.bc.2 | Second UK Book Club (2001) 

N.hb.3 | Third UK Hb Impression (2002)

 

In terms of completeness, I have made no serious attempt to seek out any other European editions not mentioned by Brawn; there are likely other book club variants for example. Curiously, there is no Italian edition. In respect to UK variants, I have admittedly added little to what Holford has already said. My analysis, particularly in respect to UK reprints, is not entirely convincing; the failure of both ROTOLITO and HARPERCOLLINS to accurately record later impressions, makes presentation of this information and the interpretation of any given book in-hand, problematic. There are likely more variants out there.

 

As I say, preliminary. Corrections welcome.