HM Gets U.S. Rights to New Tolkien

-- Publishers Weekly, 9/18/2006

Houghton Mifflin has acquired U.S. rights to publish the first complete book by J.R.R. Tolkien since the posthumous Silmarillion in 1977. HM bought American rights to The Children of Húrin from HarperCollins UK, which acquired the project from The Tolkien Estate in a world rights deal.

Húrin, begun in 1918, was reconstructed by Christopher Tolkien, painstakingly editing together the complete work from his father’s many drafts, this book is the culmination of a 30-year endeavor by him to bring J.R.R. Tolkien’s vast body of unpublished work to a wide audience.

HM will publish Húrin in April 2007, on the same day as HarperCollins' international editions. Janet Silver, v-p and publisher of Houghton Mifflin, said, "As J.R.R. Tolkien's original American publisher, dating back to The Hobbit, we are extremely proudto be bringing thisproject to Tolkien's devoted readership in the United States."