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#cb0022 - The Fellowship of the Ring — First Edition, Fourth Impression, 1955 - € 595

A November 1955 fourth impression of The Fellowship of the Ring, issued in December 1955, in original red cloth with folding map and a later facsimile dust jacket.

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The Fellowship of the Ring — First Edition, Fourth Impression, 1955

First UK Edition, Fourth Impression — November 1955

Published by George Allen & Unwin, London, this is the fourth impression of the first edition of The Fellowship of the Ring, the opening volume of The Lord of the Rings. Dated November 1955, the impression first became available in December 1955.

Printing and Production

Printed by Purnell & Sons Ltd, Paulton, Somerset, and London, in 11 on 12 point Imprint type. The printing comprised 3,500 sets of sheets, including 500 exported for Houghton Mifflin’s American issue. The Allen & Unwin copies were bound by Purnell in batches in December 1955 and February 1956.

Binding and Maps

In the publisher’s original red cloth, with gilt spine lettering and Ring device, and runic borders to the title-page opening. The edition includes A Part of The Shire opposite page 24 and the 1954 version of The West of Middle-earth at the End of the Third Age on a folding sheet at the rear. The folding rear map is retained.

Condition

The spine is faded and rubbed, with fraying at the head and foot and wear along the joints; the gilt lettering remains legible. The boards show rubbing, scattered pale surface marks and a long vertical scuff on the rear board, with wear to the edges and corners. The page edges are browned and spotted.

The endpapers show browning and foxing, with small areas of red colour transfer at their edges. A previous owner’s name and the date 1956 are written in ink on the front free endpaper, with a separate pencil notation above. There is lighter scattered spotting in the preliminary and photographed text leaves, and a pronounced turned-down upper corner to one of the text leaves.

A later facsimile dust jacket is supplied for protection. It reproduces the Ring-and-Eye design; the original 1955 dust jacket is not present.

An early first-edition Fellowship in original cloth, retaining its folding map and supplied with a clearly identified facsimile jacket.

Bibliographical reference: Wayne G. Hammond and Douglas A. Anderson, J.R.R. Tolkien: A Descriptive Bibliography, pp. 82–99.

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Pictures (click to enlarge):

The Fellowship of the Ring — First Edition, Fourth Impression, 1955, photograph 1

The Fellowship of the Ring — First Edition, Fourth Impression, 1955, photograph 2

The Fellowship of the Ring — First Edition, Fourth Impression, 1955, photograph 3

The Fellowship of the Ring — First Edition, Fourth Impression, 1955, photograph 4

The Fellowship of the Ring — First Edition, Fourth Impression, 1955, photograph 5

The Fellowship of the Ring — First Edition, Fourth Impression, 1955, photograph 6

The Fellowship of the Ring — First Edition, Fourth Impression, 1955, photograph 7

The Fellowship of the Ring — First Edition, Fourth Impression, 1955, photograph 8

The Fellowship of the Ring — First Edition, Fourth Impression, 1955, photograph 9

The Fellowship of the Ring — First Edition, Fourth Impression, 1955, photograph 10

The Fellowship of the Ring — First Edition, Fourth Impression, 1955, photograph 11

The Fellowship of the Ring — First Edition, Fourth Impression, 1955, photograph 12

The Fellowship of the Ring — First Edition, Fourth Impression, 1955, photograph 13

The Fellowship of the Ring — First Edition, Fourth Impression, 1955, photograph 14

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