The Lord of the Rings; The Hobbit; The Silmarillion - 5 Volume Set

DESCRIPTION: Deluxe 5-volume set which includes: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. Octavo volumes 9 H x 5 3/4 W inches (23 H x 14.5 W cm). Details as follows - THE HOBBIT: No. 1164 of 1750 copies, 7th printing (2002), illustrations by Eric Fraser. THE SILMARILLION: (unnumbered) , 4th printing (2003), edited by Christopher Tolkien with illustrations by Francis Mosley. LORD OF THE RINGS (3 volumes): No. 1164 of 1750 copies, 7th printing (2002), illustrations by Ingahild Grathmer (pseudonym for Margarethe II, the Queen of Denmark) drawn by Eric Fraser. All five volume are bound in identical fashion in quarter dark brown wassa goatskin with hand woven Indian silk sides by Smith Settle of Olney, York. Calligraphy across all five volumes is by John Andrews. The three LOTR volumes are housed together in one slipcase and the Hobbit and the Silmarillion have their own slipcases. Top edges gilt, silk ribbons, and calligraphic titling on book spines in gilt. The slipcases have scalloped top and bottom edges at their openings and are identically covered with the same dark brown wassa goatskin with elaborate gilt titling on side panels. The three LOTR books and the Hobbit are protected with a clear archival Grafix Dura Lar dust wrappers. The slipcase for the Silmarillion is tight-fitting and the book must be gently shaken from the slipcase to necessitate and begin removal; the dust wrapper is omitted from this book for this reason._____CONDITION: All five volumes and their slipcases are in fine ("as new") condition. No scratches, no writing, no rubbing, no issues. _____DISCUSSION: Tolkien collectors will endlessly debate which is/are the preferred editions, a pointless exercise since tastes vary widely. The Folio Society Limited Editions are deluxe, carefully printed by the Bath Press, Bath, on fine quality papers (Caxton Wove or St. Paul's Wove paper). The black-and-white illustrations are restrained, evocative and elegant, a welcome respite form the full color, in your face illustrations derived from sci-fi / dystopian / doomsday literature which are the current rage. This is a set you will return to._____NOTE: Domestic shipping with UPS is $50 because this set will be sent in two separate packages to avoid damage in shipping. International shipping cost with USPS International Priority Mail will be capped at $125 to Canada, the United Kingdom and western Europe. More distant locations may incur additional cost.…