The Lord of The Rings Trilogy: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King.

TOLKIEN, J.R.R.

Item Number: 136435

London: The Folio Society, 1977.

First Folio Society edition of the Tolkien’s classic trilogy. Octavo, original half leather over cloth covered boards with gilt titles and tooling to the spine and front panels, pictorial endpapers, illustrations by Ingahild Grathmer [Margarethe II of Denmark] drawn by Eric Fraser. Tolkien had rejected the work of many professional illustrators who had wanted to tackle the task of illustrating The Lord of the Rings. Out of private enthusiasm and with no thought of publication Queen Margarethe II of Denmark drew a set of illustrations and sent them to Tolkien who, somewhat unexpectedly, approved of warmly. After his death, Margarethe’s designs were found among Tolkien’s files and his literary heirs suggested that they, too, would approve their use in the new illustrated edition The Folio Society was already planning. Due to the pressure of time, Queen Margarethe was not able to adapt her original designs but agreed to collaborate with Eric Fraser on the work provided that any fee earned went to The Queen Margrethe and Prins Henrik fund and that it was published under a pseudonym so that it would be sold by The Folio Society entirely on its own merits. Near fine in the original slipcase which is in very good condition. A very sharp set.

The Lord of the Rings began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's fantasy novel The Hobbit, but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in stages between 1937 and 1949, much of it during World War II in letters to his son, "and finally, having polished it to his own satisfaction, published it as a trilogy from 1954 to 1955, a volume at a time, impatiently awaited by a growing audience. It is considered one of this century’s lasting contributions to that borderland of literature between youth and age. It seems destined to become this century’s contribution to that select list of books which continue through the ages to be read by children and adults with almost equal pleasure." (Eyre, 134-35). It has went on to become the third best selling novel of all-time with 150 million copies sold.