Hello friends. Here for sale is an extremely rare set of Lord of the Rings by Tolkien published through Readers Union book club in 1960. Around 3000 of these sets were made available to Readers Union members in the fall of 1960. As such they are based on 1st Edition text and technically qualify as 1st edition books despite being book club editions. Very scare and highly collectible now. Unfortunately, this set has a ring stain on the spine of the covers and the books were out of order as well. Otherwise dustjackets are beautiful, no clips with nice sharp corners and only minimal top and bottom shelf rub. I have had these looked at by a professional restorer. He says he can lift the stains without an issue. Most corners on the boards are ice and sharp, some have very gentle bumps. Spines are nice and tight. Maps are all intact and perfectly folded. Very stiff. I do not believe these have been unfolded more than once or twice in their lives. Inner board pages have mild discoloration and spotting common to these Reader Union editions. They didn't use great paper as a cost cutting measure because GA&U was extorting them for a premium because it was Tolkien. Quite a fascinating story about these volumes really.