The Lord of the Rings, Book Club Associates, 1978 One-Volume Hardback Edition in Dustjacket.

1978 Book Club Associates one-volume hardback of The Lord of the Rings, in the striking Pauline Baynes wraparound dustjacket.

This is the 1978 Book Club Associates one-volume edition of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, published in London by arrangement with George Allen & Unwin. The copyright page records the original three-volume publication in 1954–55, the Second Edition of 1966, and notes that this edition was published by Book Club Associates in 1978. The text therefore follows the revised Second Edition of the novel.

The volume contains the complete text of the trilogy:
Part I: The Fellowship of the Ring
Part II: The Two Towers
Part III: The Return of the King
together with the usual maps of Middle-earth: the large map printed opposite the Ring verse, and the map of Rohan, Gondor and Mordor at the rear of the book.

Bound in the original green cloth, lettered in gilt to the spine with the BCA device in gilt at the foot. The cloth is generally clean, with a few small marks and light rubbing to the boards and spine, and minor bumping to the corners and spine ends. The gilt titling remains bright and legible. The page edges show some age-toning and light spotting, but internally the text is clean, with no ownership inscriptions, annotations or underlining noted.

The book is complete in the original Pauline Baynes dustjacket, featuring her distinctive wraparound illustration of Middle-earth with bold red titling to the upper panel and spine. The jacket presents well, with light edge wear, a little rubbing to corners and spine ends, and a few small creases, but no significant loss. The spine panel is only slightly toned and the colours to the front and rear panels remain bright. The jacket is now protected in a removable archival cover.

These later BCA one-volume editions in the Baynes dustjacket are becoming increasingly difficult to locate in collectible condition. This copy, with its clean green cloth binding and attractive, largely complete jacket, is a very pleasing example.

A solid and desirable vintage copy of The Lord of the Rings, uniting the convenience of the complete trilogy in a single volume with the charm of Pauline Baynes’ classic cover art.

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