J.R.R. Tolkien | The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, London, 1954-1955, 3 volumes, first edition, rebound in calf

J.R.R. Tolkien

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1954-1955, comprising: The Fellowship of the Ring. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1954; The Two Towers. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1954; The Return of the King. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1955

8vo, FIRST EDITION, FIRST IMPRESSION, FIRST STATE, 3 volumes, half titles, titles, with list of titles in series on verso, volume 3 page 49 with signature mark '4' and sagging text, folding maps printed in black and red at end of each volume, rebound in calf, spines gilt with raised bands in 5 compartments, red morocco labels, small marginal tear to map in "The Return of the King", spine label slightly worn on volume 2

FIRST EDITIONS, FIRST IMPRESSIONS of all three volumes of the greatest work of twentieth-century fantasy. While serving in the trenches in WWI, Tolkien conceived of these tales set in a "secondary World," which developed over a period of forty years into an epic narrative based in Tolkien's constructed universe, beginning with the publication of The Hobbit in 1937. In his essay “On Fairy-Stories”, Tolkien elucidates his philosophy of writing fantasy, arguing that fantasy worlds serve not only as "consolation" and "joy" for the reader, but speak to a "reality or truth". Thus, The Lord of the Rings has been read as an allegory for multiple good-versus-evil conflicts: post-World War I and the rise of Hitler; Christian myth; even the environment, with the Dead Marshes reflecting Tolkien's despair over the desolation wreaked by military technology. The series has never been out of print.

See lot 293.

LITERATURE

Hammond A5(a); West A20-22

PROVENANCE

Christopher Eaton Hart, bookplates in each volume