A set of the three-volume Lord of the Rings in rare dust jackets are currently headed towards $80,000 in an auction that remains open until October 11.
The books are described as having “first state” dust jackets and are first impressions of the first edition.
That’s a set of around 2,500 copies.
The books include maps of Middle Earth and are illustrated by author JRR Tolkien and his son, Christopher.
The dust jackets show the “Ring and Eye” design.
The dust jacket is a rare survival and key to the value of this excellent quality set.
The condition of the books is key to their value. Sellers Heritage Auctions of Dallas describe touches of wear at the spine ends. Minor repairs have been made to two of three jackets, which are called: “Remarkably bright and exceptional first state dust jackets.”
Current bids have the items at $78,750 (with buyer’s premium) with several weeks to go before the auction closes.
First edition copies of sets of Lord of the Rings books are commonly sold for tens of thousands of pounds. But exceptional volumes can realise much more.
In 2008, the most expensive Tolkien book was a signed, first edition with a dedication to “The Queen of the Hobbits” that made $104,000 at auction.
Earlier this year, a first-edition, presentation copy of The Hobbit was sold for just short of $90,000, and a set of signed, presentation copy, first-editions of Lord of the Rings (in not very good condition and with no dust jackets) made around $60,000 at the same auction.
The set is currently the second-highest valued item in Heritage’s October auction of books.
A copy of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, a first edition printed in 1776, has already attracted a bid of $75,000 (over $93,000 with fees).
The Book of Mormon by Joseph Smith, in a first edition from 1830, is for sale with a $75,000 bid, including buyer’s premium.
And a signed first edition of Ulysses by James Joyce from a 100-copy run with mould-made paper and bound in calf velum has attracted a bid of $15,000.
Condition, age, and rarity all give value to old books, but it is still the content that most decides which are the most collectible.
Tolkien’s work has been chased by collectors since he first created the fantasy worlds of Middle Earth in the 1930s, and the film adaptations of the 2000s added a new attraction to his work, and a new dimension for collectors.
The Tolkien universe now extends beyond the author’s own works and into the streaming world with the current Rings of Power series currently a major Amazon property. That can only add allure and value to the originating works in their most undiluted form, as this sale seems to show.
