J.R.R. Tolkien

A set of first edition, first printings of the Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, with a slip signed by one of the books' publishers, Stanley Unwin.

• Sold as a set of 3 volumes.
• J.R.R. Tolkien (English).
• London: George Allen and Unwin, 1954-5.
• The Fellowship of the Ring: one of 3000 first state copies.
• The Two Towers: one of 3250 first state copies.
• The Return of the King: one of 7000 copies, with signature mark ‘4’ present on page 49 and sagging text to ‘Legolas,’ designated as first state by Hammond/Anderson.
• All volumes complete with folded maps of Middle Earth tipped in onto recto. 
• Accompanying the trilogy is a hand-written note (now housed in acrylic block for display) from the co-founder of George Allen and Unwin, Stanley Unwin and dated 31st March 1960. 
• Publisher's red cloth with gilt titles to spines, red tint to top edges, in original dust-wrappers, each priced at 21s, now housed in a custom-made slipcase showing the Eye of Sauron. 

Accompanying the trilogy is a hand-written note from the co-founder of George Allen and Unwin, Stanley Unwin and dated 31st March 1960. It is addressed to the English novelist, critic, biographer and essayist Frank Swinnerton. He was the author of more than 50 books, and as a publisher's editor helped other writers including Aldous Huxley and Lytton Strachey. In the note, Unwin states, ‘one of my oldest publishing friends and in gratitude for much encouragement’.

Stanley Unwin, founder of George Allen & Unwin publishers, played a pivotal role in bringing J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings to readers. Initially, the firm published The Hobbit in 1937 after Unwin’s ten-year-old son praised the manuscript. Though Tolkien’s sequel was long, complex, and costly to print, Unwin trusted his author’s vision and supported its eventual division into three volumes, released between 1954 and 1955.