Details about  J.R.R. Tolkien THE LORD OF THE RINGS 1st editions, 1st printing 1954 - 1955 UK

J. R. R. TOLKIEN

THE LORD OF THE RINGS
Comprising The Fellowship Of The Ring, The Two Towers and The Return Of The King

First editions, first printings. Published in 1954 and 1955 by George Allen and Unwin, London. Complete in three volumes.

The books are all bound in the original red cloth bindings with gilt titles to the spines. The cloth is a little faded and frayed at the very top and bottom edges otherwise clean. The red topstain is very faded. The contents are entirely complete in each volume. There are no loose or torn pages. There is a small previous owner's name in ink dated October 1955 on the blank front endpaper of The Fellowship of the Ring. The blank endpapers on each volume are browned with some offsetting from the dustwrapper flaps. Other than some spotting on the text block edges visible when the books are closed the page surfaces are clean and bright throughout. All three maps are present as called for to the rear of each volume. Fellowship Of the Ring and The Two Towers were published in 1954, The Return of The King was published in 1955.

The dustwrappers are all original and the correct first issue, first state dustwrappers. Non of them have been price-clipped, they all retain their 21snet price to both the front and the rear flap corners. All three dustwrappers are heavily worn, faded, chipped, rubbed and nicked with browning, scuffing and marking. Several closed tears have been internally repaired with rice paper by a professional paper conservator and the bottom of the spine on Fellowship Of The Ring has evidence of an old tape repair (long since removed removed).

So there you have it. By no means the prettiest set of The Lord Of The Rings, but they are real, and they are the correct first editions in the correct first edition dustwrappers. We have taken lots of images for your perusal and have started the bidding at a ridiculously low £4.99. There is genuinely NO RESERVE on this auction. Good Luck if you decide to bid, and any questions please do not hesitate to ask.