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LORD OF THE RINGS

by J.R.R. TOLKIEN

THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RINGS
THE TWO TOWERS
THE RETURN OF THE KING

Ace Books

NOTE: The picture shown is NOT the actual set of books but is used for reference. This is the second of two sets I have the THIS one is in MUCH NICER shape than shown. See the physical description below**

Up for grabs is this scarcely seen complete set of the Ace Paperback pressings of The Lord of the Rings from the early 60's.  Since the synopsis of the story is really unnecessary, I will concentrate specifically on this edition.

In the early 1960s Ace Books published a set of The Lord of the Rings, unauthorized by Tolkien and without paying royalties to him. It was their claim that The Lord of the Rings was not protected in the United States under American copyright law because Houghton Mifflin, the U.S. hardcover publisher, had neglected to copyright the work in the United States.

As you might expect, Tolkien took issue with this and quickly notified his fans of this objection. Pressure from these fans became so great that Ace Books withdrew their edition and made a nominal payment to Tolkien.

Then in 1965, new editions followed from Ballantine Books and Houghton Mifflin with various textual revisions to produce a version of the book that would be published with his consent and establish an unquestioned US copyright. That text became the "Second Edition and Fully Authorized" of The Lord of the Rings.

Printings of this Ace edition are sometimes referred to as The Bootleg version, or Illegally Published. Neither are true, it was just unauthorzed by Tolkien but still contained the exact novel, word for word, that the hardcover editions had. Copies in any condition are very difficult to find, especially as a complete set, and nice looking sets as this are few and far between. Below you will find a physical description of each book in the set. A physical description follows...

For any of the other hundreds of items I have available use the link at the bottom of the page. And if you have any requests, by all means, send me an email; if I have it, I'll list it right away for you (no off eBay sales...)

About Me & This Item...

I am a private collector of art, books, music (10,000 records alone!) and "stuff" and am very picky about what I buy. I don't like surprises when I buy things from auctions any more than you do. I promise everything there is to know about this item is in this description. I also do not subscribe to "grading" as frankly, grading is totally inconsistent and most of the "graders" TRULY have no clue, so I will use plain English if it is OK with you...

    *Here is a separate description for each of the three books:

      The Fellowship Of The Rings is a gently handled and previously read paperback book in VERY nice condition. The binding is tight and solid and all pages are clear and crisp. The spine is lightly creased from a previous read and this copy shows only a minimal amount of shelfwear from handling but does show a bit of age. There is also a former owners name on the inside cover.

      The Two Towers is in GREAT condition. The binding is square, tight and solid and all pages are intact, crisp, and clear. There is virtually no wear evident at all, and in fact, I doubt seriously if it has ever been read. A VERY clean copy!.

      The Return Of The King has been previously read and is in VERY GOOD condition. The binding is tight and solid and all pages are intact, albeit a few are lightly curled near the front only. The spine has a light curve from a previous read and copy shows a bit more shelfwear than the other two. The coverhas one small straightened out 1/2" dogear, but is otherwise uncreased, and it too shows some signs of yellowing with age.

      All in all, it is a really is a nice set for any Tolkien collector! Enjoy...

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Thanks so much for looking and bidding on my auctions~ Alan.