The Lord of the Rings. The Fellowship of the Ring; The Two Towers; The Return of the King.

India Paper Deluxe Edition [9th Impression]. 8vo. 1,193pp., appendices, indexes, foreword. Black buckram, lettered and ruled in gilt to spine and decorated to cover with a design by Tolkien in gold, silver, and green. Marbled endpapers; all edges trimmed and speckled light green. Complete with laid in fold-out maps of Middle Earth, printed in red and black. Housed in publisher's black box with a printed label on the lid. India Paper edition of The Lord of the Rings, comprising "The Fellowship of the Ring", "The Two Towers", and "The Return of the King". Three parts in one volume, using the 1968 text of the First One Volume Paperback Edition (expanded to include the Appendices).

Publisher's box rubbed to edges, else Fine.

A 'heroic romance' (in the author's own words) in the tradition of Beowulf, the Eddas, The Song of Roland, Amadís de Gaule, the Perceval of Chretien de Troyes, and The Faerie Queene. Set in the Third Age of Middle-earth, the books relate the saga of a band of reluctant heroes who set forth to save their world from consummate evil, and which masterfully combine Tolkien's unsurpassed gift for storytelling with his extensive knowledge of philology and folklore.

Twelve years in gestation from 1937 to 1949, the series was crowned Britain's best-loved novel of all time in the BBC's inaugural The Big Read survey of 2003, having sold over 150 million copies worldwide. Basis for the acclaimed film trilogy directed by Peter Jackson, starring Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, and Christopher Lee, recipient of 17 Academy Awards out of 30 nominations, including the 2003 Best Picture gong for The Return of the King. "One of the most remarkable works of literature in our, or any, time." –Bernard Levin

[Hammond and Anderson, pp.143–144]