The Fellowship of the Ring Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954.
AN INCREDIBLE EXAMPLE OF THE FIRST EDITION SECOND IMPRESSION IN ITS ORIGINAL SECOND IMPRESSION DUST JACKET OF THE FIRST PART OF THE LORD OF THE RINGS.
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A truly incredible copy in completely original condition retaining its very rare original dust jacket. A very rare printing for which very few copies in first or second impression form survive in their original condition as with this example. This example is bound in the original publisher's cloth with the original second impression dust jacket with the book itself in FINE TO VERY FINE CONDITION in a VG dust jacket.
There were 3,000 copies printed for the first impression run in July 1954 and 2,500 copies printed for the second impression in December 1954. This is therefore one of the first 5,500 copies of this book printed, a very significant attribute given that modern estimates put total sales figures of this book at around 150 million copies. Roughly 60,650 copies were printed through the various impressions of the first edition between 1954 and 1966, and so the majority of encountered copies of the first edition are from these later printings. This is one of the earliest obtainable copies of The Fellowship of the Ring, the genesis of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. If we also consider how many of those 5,500 are in such excellent condition complete with the dust jacket as with this, we're talking about a very small number of obtainable copies.
This is a very rare opportunity to acquire one of the best copies of this first edition of The Fellowship of the Ring, easily one of the most desirable of all modern collectable books.
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Size: 145 x 221 mm (approx.)
Condition:
[(1), 2pp, t.p., contents leaf, 4pp, 11-423, 1pp, foldout map, (1)]
Original publisher's full red cloth binding, very slightly bumped to corners & extremities of the spine, but overall externally in fine condition. A truly excellent example. Binding uncocked without shelf lean, structurally secure without fault. Joints and hinges fine, uncracked. Gilt to the spine in fine condition without any fading. Page edges fine, top edge coloured red as published. No attached bookplates and no ownership inscriptions throughout, indeed, the book is entirely free of any writing, pencil, pen, or otherwise, with no signs of any having been erased/removed. The text block is in fine condition throughout. No leaves are dog-eared. No marks on any text pages etc. Completely fine condition throughout the entire text block, appears unread. Quite possibly the most excellent obtainable example there is. There is one very small spot of foxing to the blank front free endpaper and a few very small spots to the rear blank endpaper which are not intrusive at all. Truly a remarkable example of this book in condition terms. Overall, the book is fine to very fine.
The dust jacket is structurally secure without any splits which compromise its structural integrity. It retains the original colour as published, with the spine panel slightly dulled, though significantly better than the typical example. Some wear along the joints as typical with very minor loss at the extremities not affecting the structure. Lightly chipped at head of DJ as often, with some minor loss at the head of the spine panel. A few small marks / areas of discolouration, but generally very presentable indeed. The turn-in flaps are near fine to fine and are very nice indeed. The verso is near fine to fine.
AN INCREDIBLE COPY; THE BOOK IS IN FINE TO VERY FINE CONDITION, THE DUST JACKET IS VERY GOOD. ONE OF THE GREATEST OBTAINABLE COPIES OF ONE OF THE EARLIEST OBTAINABLE EXAMPLES OF THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING; A GEM OF MODERN BOOK COLLECTING.
