Heritage Auction March 4, 2020 - Lord of the Rings 1sts

The Fellowship of the Ring. Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1954. First edition, first impression, with signature "4" and straight lines of type on page 49. Octavo. 423, [1, colophon] pages. In-text map of the Shire and folding map tipped to recto of rear free endpaper, both by Christopher Tolkien; three in-text illustrations by J. R. R. Tolkien. Publisher's red cloth, spine lettered in gilt; all text block edges trimmed, top edge stained red; original dust jacket printed in black, red, and gold on light gray paper. Spine ends gently pushed and showing some mild wear; gilding at spine tarnished; hint of discoloration along joints; minor wear along top and bottom edges of boards; trace of dust-soiling along top edges. Faint yellowing to endpapers and text block; age discoloration and foxing to endpapers; some staining to bottom and fore-edge of text block; a few faint instances of mild, marginal staining at interior; trace of foxing to first and last few leaves; creasing to upper corners of a couple of leaves; small bump a bottom edge of text block resulting in small nicks to lower edges of a handful of pages. Jacket nicked at spine and flap fold ends; sunning and a bit of staining to spine panel and flap folds; light rubbing and a couple of spots of soiling to front and rear panels; rumpling and mild discoloration to top edges of flaps. Very good. Hammond and Anderson A5 i.

The Two Towers. Being the Second Part of The Lord of the Rings. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1954. First edition, first impression. Octavo. 352 pages. Folding map by Christopher Tolkien tipped to recto of rear free endpaper. Publisher's red cloth, spine lettered in gilt; all text block edges trimmed, top edge stained red; original dust jacket printed in black, red, and gold on light gray paper. Spine slightly skewed; spine ends gently rolled with a trace of wear; hint of minor soiling to boards; light wear along bottom edges. Endpapers and text block softly yellowed; minor age discoloration to endpapers; bookseller's ticket at rear pastedown; evidence of a few labels removed at corners of rear pastedown; a few surface scratches at fore-edge of text block. Light edge wear to jacket; spine panel and flap folds sunned; wear along folds; front and rear panels thumbsoiled; price-clipped. Near fine. Hammond and Anderson A5 ii.

The Return of the King. Being the Third Part of The Lord of the Rings. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1955. First edition, first impression. Octavo. 416 pages. Folding map by Christopher Tolkien tipped to recto of rear free endpaper. Publisher's red cloth, spine lettered in gilt; all text block edges trimmed, top edge stained red; original dust jacket printed in black, red, and gold on light gray paper. Spine leaning; spine ends pushed and showing a bit of wear; gilding at backstrip tarnished; hint of discoloration along joints; trace of wear along bottom edges of boards. Mild yellowing to endpapers and text block; hint of age discoloration and moderate foxing to endpapers; minor drip staining to top and fore-edge of text block. Jacket nicked at spine and flap fold ends; mild sunning to spine panel and flap folds; some general, minor staining; light edge wear resulting in some soft creasing along edges of front and rear panels. Near fine. Hammond and Anderson A5 iii.