The Lord of the Rings (1977)

The Folio Society published its three-volume Lord of the Rings in 1977 with illustrations credited to Ingahild Grathmer, a pseudonym of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. Her pencil designs were redrawn in ink by Eric Fraser.

What to check:

• Binding: quarter light grey leather with grey cloth sides, blocked in gilt with a labyrinth design by Jeff Clements, with map endpapers, in the publisher's slipcase.
• Colophon: printed and bound by W and J Mackay, set in Barbou.
• Printing statement: read the imprint. The second printing of 1979 used the same binding, so only the statement tells them apart. A first printing carries only the 1977 date.

Folio reprinted the edition many times, stating each printing, and from the late 1990s moved to a different binding design. Sellers sometimes infer the printing from a date in a catalogue rather than from the books, so check all three volumes yourself.

Do not confuse this edition with the 2002 Folio centenary limited edition of 1,750 numbered copies, which is a separate book.

Condition points are the slipcase, which wears at the edges and fades, the leather spines, which rub, and the gilt, which dulls. Sets are sometimes made up from volumes of different printings.

Sources: rarebooks.ie, tolkienlibrary.com, mytolkienbooks.com and Tolkien Gateway.