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Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Lord of the Rings, 3 vol. each vol. signed by the author, The Return of the King additionally signed by Tolkien "jon r. r. tolkien" in Elvish Tengwar script on titles, comprising The Fellowship of the Ring, eighth impression, pp.121-4 with tape reinforcement and some resultant staining to fore-margin, 1959; The Two Towers, sixth impression, patch of foxing to fore-margin of title and other early leaves, 1959; The Return of the King, fifth impression, light browning to endpapers, 1959, folding maps, original cloth, dust-jackets, light toning to spines, a few small spots or light marking to panels, The Return of the King with small internal tear and creasing to lower joint, an excellent set overall, 8vo.

⁂ A bright fully-signed set of Tolkien's foundational work of fantasy fiction, it is exceptionally unusual for Tolkien to sign his name using one of the artificial scripts created for his Middle Earth fictions.

Provenance: Gifted to the present owner by Alan Egerton Parker, a teacher and house master who was an undergraduate at University College Oxford in 1957. He and two friends had read the trilogy and decided to track down the author, then retired and living in Oxford. Tolkien greeted the students at his home, invited them in for tea, and the four began a regular series of convivial meetings. Towards the end of the students' final term, Tolkien gifted each with a signed set of The Lord of the Rings as a memento of their times together. A letter of provenance accompanies this lot.

Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Lord of the Rings, 3 vol., comprising The Fellowship of the Ring, fifth impression, light browning strips to endpapers, a couple of small surface marks to lower cover, 1956; The Two Towers, fifth impression 1955; The Return of the King, first impression, with signature mark '4' and text block misaligned on p.49, 1957, first editions, folding maps, original cloth, spine ends slightly bumped, faint pencil lines to boards at hinges, one or two small spots to edges, dust-jackets, light rubbing and browning along joints and to spines, a bright and excellent set overall, [Hammond & Anderson A5], 8vo, 1956-55.