Allen & Unwin, 1954, 1954, 1955 The Lord of the Rings first printing set, each title is 1st/1st.  The wear/ discolouration is uniform, though lightly more wear to FotR jacket and book.  Books clean, tight bindings, slight scuffing to cloth edges in places, but no staining. Spine titles faded, maps clean and unread. RotK is slip text 4

Unrestored jackets have darkening to edges and especially spine. Flaps are original grey colour. Spine titles and colours faded, paper worn, slight splits and tattering to spine corners/ends, but overall complete. As common, FotR jacket has more wear than the others. (This book is most often re-read?). 

We’ve sold many first editions sets, two in the last five months. This set is above average and as good as they come without spending twice the price. Importantly, there’s been no alterations/restorations to the jackets whatsoever. Buy it before it’s gone!

Important note. You couldn't buy these in the 50's  as a "set" as each title was release separately. The earliest "set" you could have purchased in a book store off the shelf would have been a 3,2,1 impression set, however by distribution odds, 4,2,1 impressions is possible, 5,2,1 the most likely.  They were not as popular as they are today and few people then thought to buy each book as it was released, a very few however might have, but these don;t come up very often.  Today serious collector fans want the first printing of each title and with uniform age and wear so they look good as a "set".  These first sets are becoming increasingly scarce, especially those without restoration and alterations to the jackets which we feel reduces the value severely, if not completely. Better original books and jackets, warts and all, for the best investment return. 







Please note, we do not combine shipping unless by prior agreement and dependent on the overall order amount. The extra weight and packaging does cost us more postage. If we do combine shipping costs it will be a discount and only on like items that can be shipped in the same package. For example, books and prints can not be shipped in the same package type i.e. tube verses box. Please contact us in advance or purchase or bid if you have any questions. Shipping charges are otherwise automatic.  

Postage and packaging is not free! Postage costs have risen significantly in a very short time, particularly on slightly heavier items like books or long items like tubes. They seem to be targeting on-line sellers in fee increases. The cost of strong, rigid packaging has also risen and needs to be stronger than before as the PO sorting office automatic sorting equipment seems to damage more items.  All our items are rare and our customers would rather them arrive safely, than have free postage. Since EBay rules won’t let us set the real postage and we can only use their fixed rates, some customer may pay slightly more for very light items, but we lose money on heavier or larger ones.  Thanks for your understanding.