The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of The King by Tolkien, J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel)

Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1954-1956. Three volumes. First US editions, later printing of The Fellowship of the Ring, later printing of The Two Towers, first printing of The Return of the King, with the terminal fold-out maps tipped in to each volume. Publisher's blue cloth, spines and covers lettered in gilt; in the original pictorial dust jackets, with illustrations of the Eye of Sauron, the One Ring and its Elvish inscription to the front panels. Very good with rubbing and wear to the extremities, some fraying to spine ends, small former owner signature to front endpapers; in price-clipped dust jackets with chips, short tears and some loss to the spine, some staining to spines of Fellowship and Two Towers, faint staining to lower flaps of Return of the King. Overall, a good and completely unrestored set, free of repairs. The Lord of the Rings is a fantasy trilogy, written as the sequel to Tolkien's 1937 novel The Hobbit. It tells the story of the second attempt of the men, elves, and dwarves of Middle Earth to destroy the Dark Lord Sauron, the "Lord of the Rings." In The Hobbit, set almost 2,000 years after Sauron was initially vanquished, Hobbit Bilbo Baggins discovers Sauron's lost ring, which he used to control the inhabitants of Middle Earth vis-à-vis corrupt leaders whom he gave lesser rings to in order to gain power over them. In The Fellowship of the Ring, Bilbo leaves the ring to his nephew Frodo, who joins with a group of men, hobbits, dwarves, and elves on a quest to destroy it. In The Two Towers, Frodo and Sam continue alone on their increasingly perilous journey to destroy the ring while the remaining members of the Fellowship try to protect the realms of Middle Earth from the troops of Sauron, who continues to gain strength as Frodo brings the Ring closer. The Return of the King concludes the trilogy with the final destruction of Sauron and the reestablishment of proper order in the worlds of men and hobbits. Each volume is divided into two books and contains chapters narrated by different characters. . First American Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Dust Jacket Included.