Books

London: George Allen and Unwin, 1966. Finely bound set of each title comprising the The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Octavo, 3 volumes, bound in full red morocco, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, front panels, folding maps. In fine condition. Housed in a custom slipcase. The first printing of the second, revised, edition (with "Second Edition 1966" on the copyright page with no further printings listed). An exceptional set. The Lord of the Rings began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's fantasy novel The Hobbit, but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in stages between 1937 and 1949, much of it during World War II in letters to his son, "and finally, having polished it to his own satisfaction, published it as a trilogy from 1954 to 1955, a volume at a time, impatiently awaited by a growing audience. It is considered one of this century’s lasting contributions to that borderland of literature between youth and age. It seems destined…

The Fellowship of the Ring is the first of three volumes of the epic novel The Lord of the Rings by the English author J.R.R. Tolkien. It is followed by The Two Towers and The Return of the King. The story begins with the discovery of the One Ring, which had been lost for centuries, and follows a group of heroes who set out on a quest to destroy it and prevent the dark lord Sauron from fulfilling his malevolent designs.