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London: George Allen & Unwin, Ltd. 1954-55, Second, Second and First Impressions of the First Edition. Finely rebound in full black morocco leather with the original dust jacket illustration of the ?Eye of Sauron? to each front board in gilt, titles in gilt to the spine. A most attractive set of Tolkien's three landmark books: The Fellowship of the Ring, First Edition, Second Impression, December 1954; The Two Towers, First Edition, Second Impression, 1955; The Return of the King, 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 floral patterned paper. Faults: Vol 1 ? faint horisontal crease to the top of the first 30 pages; the odd foxing spot in the gutter; corner bumped to 10 pages; a bump to the page edge of pages 415-420; misfolded map to one of the folds. Vol 2 ? stain to the page fore edges. Vol 3 ? bump to the top corner of pages up to 260 and the last 40 pages; repaired to the last guttergutter with paper tape. 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. The rest is history. As C. S. 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 leather lined (to the front) 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. Condition Report Externally Spine ? fine condition ? gilt titles, four raised bands. Joints ? fine condition. Corners ? fine condition. Boards ? fine condition ? gilt ?Eye of Sauron? (from the art work of the original dust jacket) to black morocco boards (front only); gilt lined to both boards. Page edges ? very good condition ? top edges original red colour, others gently tanned, stained to Twin Towers. Binding ? fine condition. Slipcase ? fine condition ? leather lined to the 'opening'. See above and photos. Internally Hinges ? fine condition. Paste downs ? fine condition ? patterned paper. End papers ? very good condition ? marbled paper. Title ? very good condition ? lightly tanned. Pages ? very good condition ? lightly tanned throughout, see faults list above. See photos.
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