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The Lord of the Rings
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The Lord of the Rings Paperback - 1999

by J. R. R. Tolkien


About this book

The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel written by philologist and Oxford University professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit (1937), but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in stages between 1937 and 1954, much of it during World War II. 

After the success of 
The Hobbit, Tolkien’s publisher asked that he produce a sequel. Although written as one big work comprised of six books, The Lord of the Rings was broken into three separate volumes because of post-World War II paper shortages and size and price considerations. The print run of the first editions was very small: 3,000 copies for The Fellowship of the Ring (1954), 3,250 copies for The Two Towers (1954), and 7,000 copies for The Return of the King (1955). The Lord of the Rings went on to become one of the best-selling novels ever, with more than 150 million copies sold.

First Edition Identification

The Lord of the Rings was published in three parts by George Allen and Unwin, and in the US by Houghton Mifflin. 

The Fellowship of the Ring
 (1954), The Two Towers (1954), and  The Return of the King (1955).

The Uk editions have  21s net to the front flap. 

The first American edition has cover illustration by Walter Lorraine.

Details

  • Title The Lord of the Rings
  • Author J. R. R. Tolkien
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition Millennium editi
  • Pages 1584
  • Publisher Firebird Distributing, London
  • Date 1999
  • ISBN 9780007105007