The Lord of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, Allen & Unwin Just about the earliest year set it is possible to have in first editions, all three books are 1955, impressions 3, 2, 2. The earliest year set would be 3, 2, 1 again all three books printed in 1955. The 3,2,1 set being available October 1955 and the 3,2,2 set being available November 1955. What makes this set even more special is that there were only 497 copies of the 3rd impression of The Fellowship bound for Allen & Unwin, all the rest of the 3rd impressions sheets were exported to the United States.Making the Allen & Unwin 3rd impression of The Fellowship the rarest of any impression of The Lord of the Rings. The Fellowship is a 3rd impression,1955, map present. The Two Towers is a 2nd impression 1955, map present. The Return of The King is a 2nd impression 1955, map present Text block edges clean, contents clean, some wear and marks to the boards and spines. The Fellowship and The Two Towers have a signature on the front free end paper. A scare, and very early, set of first editions of Lord of the Rings