Fellowship of the Ring - a UK first edition with blue covers???
13 Sep, 2025
(edited)
2025-9-13 12:27:40 AM UTC
2025-9-13 12:27:40 AM UTC
Hi All,
I'm hoping someone can shed some light on this. In the 1950s my mother bought the 3 volumes of the The Lord of the Rings and they have remained on the bookshelf in the family home for 70 years until my dad died a couple of months ago (my mum pre-deceased him).
I retrieved the volumes as I suspected they were first editions. None of them have dust jackets. The Two Towers and The Return of the King definitely are - first edition, first impression. But The Fellowship of the Ring is a mystery. It is in the worst condition of the three. In terms of publication date it is right - 1954. Printed by Jarrold & Sons. No impression information so possibly first impression. But the covers are blue, not red! (It is definitely not the American edition which is blue - it is Allen & Unwin). Plus, the pagination is not standard - 423pp, not 424. Also, it is very slightly smaller than the other two volumes in terms of height and width, and the margins are very slightly smaller.
I have scoured the internet exhaustively and can find no mention of a UK first edition with any of these features. I can absolutely vouch for the provenance in terms of this being in my family since the 1950s. It is not some kind of fake. I took it to a reputable antiquarian bookshop (Tombland Books in Norwich). The lady there was very knowledgeable. She confirmed the other volumes were "right" in all particulars but was mystified as to the Fellowship volume. She too could find no reference to such an edition.
She noted that the other two volumes had a "Times Library" stamp inside the back cover, indicating that my mother probably bought them via The Times Library in Wigmore Street which in the 1950s was a (now defunct) lending library cum book club where you could buy the latest publications at reduced rates. The bookseller suggested that perhaps this book club produced its own edition of the Fellowship, although she had never seen any others or any reference to it, and The Fellowship is the one book of the three that has no "Times Library" stamp in it.
I have looked through the standard bibliographical work, W.G Hammond's "J.R.R. Tolkien : a descriptive bibliography" online and can find no reference to such an edition. Yet it exists!
Can anyone shed any light on this?
I'm hoping someone can shed some light on this. In the 1950s my mother bought the 3 volumes of the The Lord of the Rings and they have remained on the bookshelf in the family home for 70 years until my dad died a couple of months ago (my mum pre-deceased him).
I retrieved the volumes as I suspected they were first editions. None of them have dust jackets. The Two Towers and The Return of the King definitely are - first edition, first impression. But The Fellowship of the Ring is a mystery. It is in the worst condition of the three. In terms of publication date it is right - 1954. Printed by Jarrold & Sons. No impression information so possibly first impression. But the covers are blue, not red! (It is definitely not the American edition which is blue - it is Allen & Unwin). Plus, the pagination is not standard - 423pp, not 424. Also, it is very slightly smaller than the other two volumes in terms of height and width, and the margins are very slightly smaller.
I have scoured the internet exhaustively and can find no mention of a UK first edition with any of these features. I can absolutely vouch for the provenance in terms of this being in my family since the 1950s. It is not some kind of fake. I took it to a reputable antiquarian bookshop (Tombland Books in Norwich). The lady there was very knowledgeable. She confirmed the other volumes were "right" in all particulars but was mystified as to the Fellowship volume. She too could find no reference to such an edition.
She noted that the other two volumes had a "Times Library" stamp inside the back cover, indicating that my mother probably bought them via The Times Library in Wigmore Street which in the 1950s was a (now defunct) lending library cum book club where you could buy the latest publications at reduced rates. The bookseller suggested that perhaps this book club produced its own edition of the Fellowship, although she had never seen any others or any reference to it, and The Fellowship is the one book of the three that has no "Times Library" stamp in it.
I have looked through the standard bibliographical work, W.G Hammond's "J.R.R. Tolkien : a descriptive bibliography" online and can find no reference to such an edition. Yet it exists!
Can anyone shed any light on this?
Without seeing any pictures, it appears to be a lending library rebind. These were done in the 1950's as a means of identifying the books were from the library.
I have a 1954 2nd Impression from Boots Lending Library, these were done in all kinds of different colours to indicate the genre of the book, though mine is red. I have seen green, blue, etc.
I have a 1954 2nd Impression from Boots Lending Library, these were done in all kinds of different colours to indicate the genre of the book, though mine is red. I have seen green, blue, etc.
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