A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing of The Return of the King by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=J.R.R.+Tolkien&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">J.R.R. Tolkien</a>.<ul><li>J.R.R. Tolkien (English).</li><li>United Kingdom: George Allen and Unwin, 1955.</li><li>Original fold out map is still present to the rear.</li><li>Bound in the publisher’s rich red boards, in the dustwrapper.</li></ul> The third installment in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The Return of the King First Edition

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Subject=Letters&amp;Book%20Subject=Manuscripts%252C%2520Letters%252C%2520Documents&amp;Book%20Subject=Manuscripts%252C%2520Letters%252C%2520Documents%252C%2520Ephemera" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">letter</a> from <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?locale=en&amp;Book%20Subject=Letters&amp;Book%20Subject=Manuscripts%252C%2520Letters%252C%2520Documents&amp;Book%20Subject=Manuscripts%252C%2520Letters%252C%2520Documents%252C%2520Ephemera&amp;query=J.R.R.%20Tolkien&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">J.R.R. Tolkien</a> to Ken Jackson concerning a production of The Hobbit.<ul><li>J.R.R. Tolkien (English).</li><li>Dated January 4th, 1968.</li><li>Handwritten and signed.</li><li>1 ½ pages.</li><li>Signed by JRR Tolkien with the characteristic 3 dots and underscore.</li><li>Written on blind stamped headed paper: 76 Sandfield Road, Headington, Oxford.</li></ul> A fine original Tolkien letter, handwritten and signed to Ken Jackson, technical director of Humphrey Carpenter's musical adaptation of The Hobbit. An adaptation of The Hobbit, dramatized and produced by Humphrey Carpenter, was staged by New College Choir School in the late 1960s. Tolkien provided autographs for the actors but neglected the technical crew. Tolkien offers to send some 'stick-in autographs" to Mr. Jackson, technical director of Humphrey Carpenter's musical adaptation of The Hobbit at the end of 1967, who was "left out" of an autographing session Tolkien. The author then apologizes to "the back-room boys of the drama" noting their "necessary, indeed very important, functions". He explains that his eldest son, John Tolkien Jr, “used to perform the same functions at his school". Tolkien also signed copies of the program for the performance for Mr. Jackson and the children.

Handwritten Letter From J.R.R. Tolkien

Uncorrected proof of the <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first US edition</a> of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?locale=en&amp;query=Tolkien&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tolkien</a>'s long essay on fairy tales, accompanied by an exemplary story — W.H. Auden's copy.<ul><li>J.R.R. Tolkien (English).</li><li>Tree and Leaf, Includes Mythopoeia and The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth.</li><li>Boston:&nbsp;Houghton Mifflin Company,&nbsp;1965.</li><li>82 pages.</li><li>With Auden's marginal marks throughout and his notes on the final leaf.&nbsp;</li><li>Original plastic-comb-bound printed pale blue wrappers.</li></ul> "In describing a fairy story which they think adults might possibly read for their own entertainment, reviewers frequently indulge in such waggeries as: 'this book is for children from the ages of six to sixty'. But I have never yet seen the puff of a new motor-model that begun thus: 'this toy will amuse infants from seventeen to seventy'; though that to my mind would be much more appropriate." Though unsigned, this copy is W.H. Auden's, with his markings in the text and notes (including a list of the seven deadly sins) on the blank verso of the last leaf. Auden famously wrote a 1954 New York Times review raving about The Fellowship of The Rings, which in no small part helped legitimize Tolkien in literary circles: "No fiction I have read in the last five years has given me more joy." He also shared a friendly correspondence with Tolkien, exchanging letters frequently over the years and receiving advance copies of the next two installments of the series. He also, the year after Tree And Leaf appeared, spoke at a New York gathering of the Tolkien Society. Tolkien himself later contributed a lovely poem in Anglo-Saxon and English titled "For W.H.A." as part of a festschrift for Auden's sixtieth birthday in Shenandoah. This book, in many ways a critical defense of the kind of stories Auden had previously so lavishly praised, would have undoubtedly been of particular interest. An excellent association and rare in this format.

Tree And Leaf

A typed and <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a> letter from <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=J.R.R.%20Tolkien&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">J.R.R. Tolkien</a>, which reveals the origin of Frodo and Bilbo’s house name, 'Bag-End.'<ul><li>J.R.R. Tolkien (English).</li><li>Dated 29th January 1968.</li><li>1 page.</li><li>Signed with Tolkien's distinctive three dots and underscore.</li><li>Typed on embossed paper from 76 Sandfield Road, Oxford, with a Basildon Bond watermark.</li><li>Accompanied by the original envelope with a 4d postage stamp.</li></ul> This typed, signed letter from J.R.R. Tolkien to K. Jackson, dated 29th January 1968, offers a fascinating insight into the origins of one of&nbsp;The Lord of the Rings' most iconic names—Bag-End. Responding to a request to name a house "Bag-End," Tolkien reveals its source: the local name of a house in Worcestershire where his Aunt Jane lived. He humorously notes that "it is impossible to patent mere names," and recounts how the name came from an old, tumbledown manor at the end of an untidy lane. A significant piece of Tolkien's personal history featuring the rare and coveted mention of Bag-End.

J.R.R. Tolkien Signed Typed Letter

First edition second impression and the first with color plates of The Hobbit, Tolkien's best-known work.<ul><li>J.R.R. Tolkien (English).</li><li>The Hobbit or There and Back Again.</li><li>London: George Allen &amp; Unwin Ltd, 1937.</li><li>Five plates (4 color), 8 illustrations by the author, advertisement leaf at end.</li><li>Bound in full dark green morocco, ribbed gilt decorated spine, covers ruled in gilt, Smaug the dragon gilt to lower right corner of the front cover, gilt dentelles, all edges gilt, marbled pastedowns and endpapers, original cloth covers and spine bound in rear, original front and rear map pastedowns and endpapers bound in, by Bayntun.</li></ul> Tolkien began writing The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, as a professor of English Language and Literature at Oxford University. Tolkien's creative perspective was born from a childhood spent briefly in South Africa and then rural England, a short but wretched tour during World War I, and an avid fascination with German philology. Although it was originally billed as a children's book, The Hobbit attracted a varied audience and has been wildly popular since its initial publication. Tolkien built upon the tradition of fantasy literature developed by George MacDonald, Lewis Carroll and the folk tales of Arabian Nights by inventing a new language—Elvish—and making it accessible for modern-day readers. Such creativity brought rave reviews for The Hobbit, which sold out of its original print run of 1,500 copies three months after publication.

The Hobbit

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first impression of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=The%20Hobbit&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Hobbit</a>.<ul><li>J.R.R. Tolkien (English).</li><li>England: George Allen &amp; Unwin, 1937.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Bound in the publisher's original green cloth, presented in a facsimile dust jacket.</li></ul> Published on September 21, 1937, the first printing of the Hobbit constituted only 1500 copies and completely sold out by December 15th.

The Hobbit | First Edition, First Impression

A set of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printings of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=The+Lord+of+the+Rings&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Lord of the Rings</a> trilogy by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=J.R.R.+Tolkien&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">J.R.R. Tolkien</a>.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 3 volumes.</li><li>J.R.R. Tolkien (English).</li><li>Published by George Allen &amp; Unwin.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Half-titles, folding maps printed in red and black at rear of each volume.</li><li>Original publisher’s red cloth, spines lettered and decorated in gilt with Tolkien’s ring device, top edges stained red; original first issue dust-jackets, priced 21s net.</li><li> </li></ul>The Fellowship of the Ring (1954):<ul><li>[vi], 423, [1] pages.</li><li>“First published in 1954” to verso.</li></ul> The Two Towers (1954):<ul><li>[vi], 352 pages.</li><li>“First published in 1954” to verso.</li></ul> The Return of the King (1955):<ul><li>[vi], 416 pages.</li><li>“First published in 1955” to verso, text complete with Appendix and Index, the name “Legolas” in its characteristic staggered typographical setting, corrected in later impressions.</li></ul> All three volumes retaining correct early maps and red top stain. Rear panels with advertisements referencing The Hobbit (Second Edition, Fifth Impression) and Farmer Giles of Ham, consistent with early states. When The Lord of the Rings appeared between 1954 and 1955, it was issued quietly, in modest print runs, by the London publisher George Allen &amp; Unwin. Tolkien’s achievement was not merely narrative but architectural. Drawing upon philology, medieval literature, mythology, and his own linguistic inventions, he constructed a secondary world of unprecedented depth and internal coherence. Middle-earth was not a setting but a civilisation: languages, genealogies, cosmology, and moral philosophy interwoven with epic narrative. In doing so, Tolkien effectively established the template for modern high fantasy. The trilogy’s publication history underscores its rarity. The first impression of The Fellowship of the Ring numbered only 3,000 copies; The Two Towers followed at 3,250; The Return of the King at 7,000. Survival rates in original, unrestored dust-jackets were never high. More than seventy years after publication, The Lord of the Rings remains one of the most widely read and culturally resonant works of the modern era. The present set — preserved in its original cloth and correctly priced dust-jackets — represents not only a landmark of imaginative literature but a cornerstone of serious book collecting.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy | First Edition, First Printings

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