Houghton Mifflin hits a bump

So, many thanks to friend Matt for sending around the following link, with the news that Tolkien's American publisher (and thus MY American publisher), Houghton Mifflin, has filed for bankruptcy, having more than two billion in assets but more than three billion in debt.

Houghton Mifflin's mainly an educational publisher, but for decades they've been famous for having been the publishers of THE HOBBIT and THE LORD OF THE RINGS, as well as most of Tolkien's other books, from LETTERS and THE ROAD GOES EVER ON to THE FATHER CHRISTMAS LETTERS and the whole HISTORY OF MIDDLE-EARTH. And of course associated books such as both editions of THE ANNOTATED HOBBIT and all three editions (so far) of THE ROAD TO MIDDLE-EARTH, not to mention the American edition of THE HISTORY OF THE HOBBIT as well.* Having been chosen by Sir Stanley Unwin as his American partner to help him sell a larger print run so many years ago turned out well for everyone concerned; they've survived his original British publisher by about two decades. Let's hope they make it through this trying time as well.

Here's the link:

http://bostonglobe.com/business/2012/05/21/houghton-mifflin-harcourt-publishing-files-for-bankruptcy/IKnMtMD8AgnPSgVNoeQWqI/story.html

* unfortunately, so far as I know they have no current plans to bring out an American edition of the revised & expanded second edition of H.o.H.