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The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
by Tolkien, J.R.R
- Used
- good
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Good/Good
- Seller
-
Stevenson, Maryland, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Three volumes. Folding map in each volume. Return of the King is second state with sig. 4 and slipped type on p. 49 (this was formerly Hammond's first state, but the bibliographer has revised his opinion). Original red cloth and printed dust jackets. Show-through staining from old removed tape repairs to jackets of vols. 1-2, some wear, spines tanned. A good set.
FIRST EDITIONS, FIRST PRINTINGS. This is a very attractive set of the celebrated Lord of the Rings trilogy. The size of the edition was small: The Fellowship of the Ring (3000 copies), The Two Towers (3250 copies), and The Return of the King (7000 copies).
WITH AN INSCRIPTION BY TOLKIEN. Mounted at the front of the first volume is a small leaf inscribed by Tolkien: "For Mr Hal Coomer in memory of a pleasant meeting & suffering shared, on Whitsunday, 1958. J. R. R. Tolkien."
The two had appeared together on a radio program. The set is accompanied by a letter dated 3 June 1958 from Tolkien's publisher George Allen & Unwin. In this letter to Coomer, the publisher notes, "We do not normally disclose our author's addresses, but we know how much Professor Tolkien enjoyed meeting you and are sure that he would like you to write to him direct, " giving the address in Oxford. Tolkien evidently replied to Coomer's letter with this inscription to put in his first edition of The Lord of the Rings.
Tolkien worked on this epic, not so much a trilogy as a long novel, from the publication of The Hobbit (1937) until the early 1950s. Beginning with the appearance of the second edition of 1966 and the nearly simultaneous appearance of the paperback edition in America, The Lord of the Rings became one of the best-selling works of fiction of the century.
This is the "paradigmatic work of modern heroic fantasy. . . . Its success was not immediate, but its publication in paperback was an event sufficiently momentous to transform completely the market situation of heroic fantasy, and hence bring about a new era in its history. The Lord of the Rings made fantasy a significant publishing category and inspired a deluge of new works. The astonishing reception and influence of this work qualify it as one of the most remarkable literary phenomena of the 20th century" (Barron, ed., Fantasy Literature).
on consignment
Synopsis
The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel written by philologist and Oxford University professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit (1937), but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in stages between 1937 and 1954, much of it during World War II. After the success of The Hobbit , Tolkien’s publisher asked that he produce a sequel. Although written as one big work comprised of six books, The Lord of the Rings was broken into three separate volumes because of post-World War II paper shortages and size and price considerations. The print run of the first editions was very small: 3,000 copies for The Fellowship of the Ring (1954), 3,250 copies for The Two Towers (1954), and 7,000 copies for The Return of the King (1955). The Lord of the Rings went on to become one of the best-selling novels ever, with more than 150 million copies sold.
Read More: Identifying first editions of The Lord of the Rings
Reviews
On Aug 15 2020, a reader said:
This is one of the most engaging, enjoyable, and creative books I have ever read. The way Tolkien creates a new world from scratch, new languages, new races. It is a work of art. And the fact that this book can be enjoyed by young children and adults alike makes it stand out among the works of fiction that fill our libraries these days. I would recommend these books to anyone who has not already read them.
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Details
- Bookseller
- 19th Century Rare Book and Photograph Shop
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 32820717
- Title
- The Lord of the Rings
- Author
- Tolkien, J.R.R
- Book Condition
- Used - Good
- Jacket Condition
- Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1954-1955
- Pages
- George Allen and Unwin
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
- Note
- May be a multi-volume set and require additional postage.
Terms of Sale
19th Century Rare Book and Photograph Shop
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
19th Century Rare Book and Photograph Shop
Biblio member since 2011
Stevenson, Maryland
About 19th Century Rare Book and Photograph Shop
Important books, manuscripts, and photographs representing mankind's greatest achievements.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- First State
- used in book collecting to refer to a book from the earliest run of a first edition, generally distinguished by a change in some...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Inscribed
- When a book is described as being inscribed, it indicates that a short note written by the author or a previous owner has been...
- Second State
- used in book collecting to refer to a first edition, but after some change has been made in the printing, such as a correction,...
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