1955 Lord of The Rings JRR Tolkien 1st Ed 4th 2nd 1st Imp Fine Leather Binding

The Lord of The Rings. The Fellowship Of The Ring. The Return Of The King. [First Edition, Fourth, Second and First Impressions - Full Leather Bindings]. London: George Allen & Unwin.

London: George Allen & Unwin, Ltd. 1955, Fourth, Second and First Impressions of the First Edition. First Edition, Fourth, Second and First Impressions. Finely rebound in full red morocco leather with the original dust jacket illustration of the'Eye of Sauron' to each front board in gilt on black leather, titles in gilt to the spine.

A most attractive set of Tolkien's three landmark books. The Fellowship of the Ring (FOTR), First Edition, Fourth Impression, November 1955.

The Two Towers (TT), First Edition, Second Impression, 1955. The Return of the King (ROTK), First Edition, First Impression, 1955.

All volumes complete with folded maps of Middle Earth tipped in at the rear of the volumes (see photos). The slipcase lined with marbled paper. Faults: Vol 1 - some'bleed' of the red stain of the page top edges on to the pages (as is always the case); foxing stain to the margin of pages 13-86; corner torn off. Vol 2 - small folded corner to one page.

Vol 3 - small ink marks to page 129, small folded corners to some pages, a'ding' (small indentation) to the page foredges of pages 295-360 (barely discernible to the reader). Closed tears or folds to the maps, where they join the text block of'The Fellowship of the Ring' and'The Two Towers'; some staining, foxing or tanning to page edges. Tolkien began The Lord of the Rings between 16 and 19 December 1937, three months after The Hobbit was published and George Allen & Unwin were encouraging Tolkien, against his inclination, to write a sequel.

Lewis commented: If Ariosto rivalled it in invention (in fact he does not) he would still lack its heroic seriousness. No imaginary world has been projected which is at once so multifarious and so true to its own inner laws; none so seemingly objective, so disinfected from the taint of the author's merely individual psychology, no so relevant to the actual human situation yet so free from allegory. And what fine shading there is in the variations of style to meet the almost endless diversity of scenes and characters - comic, homely, epic, monstrous, or diabolic. All three volumes housed in a custom made slip case. Pagination: FOTR - 423pp, folding map; TT - 352pp, folding map; ROTK - 416pp, folding map. Provenance: no inscriptions or bookplates. Slipcase approximately 9 ½ inches tall. Books approximately 9 inches tall.

Spine - very good condition - gilt titles to black morocco label, two raised bands. Joints - very good condition. Corners - very good condition. Boards - very good condition - gilt'Eye of Sauron' (from the art work of the original dust jacket) to black leather onlaid to the front of red morocco boards. Page edges - very good condition - top edges original red colour, others gently tanned, stained to Fellowship of the Ring.

Binding - very good condition. Hinges - very good condition. Paste downs - very good condition - marbled paper covered paper. End papers - very good condition - marbled paper covered paper. Title - very good condition - lightly tanned. Pages - very good condition - lightly tanned throughout, see faults list above. Louis88Books are members of the PBFA. We take great pride in photographing all our books, maps and prints and in describing every detail. Ruler in picture is 6 inches long.

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