J.R.R. Tolkien. Edited by Christopher Tolkien. Stated first American edition, first printing. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1977. Both unclipped dust jacket and hardcover are in Very Good+ condition. With original price $10.95 on inside flap. Jacket design by Louise Noble. With full number line, 10-1, on copyright page and the folding map of Beleriand in rear of book, in excellent condition. Bound in beautiful teal cloth, with no writing or markings found in the book, 365 pp. Has some chipping on spine and a few small tears, with a red mark on pages (see photo). First State copy with unbroken text on page 229.
This is considered to be Tolkien's most important work as it sets the stage for all his other works. The Lord of the Rings eventually emerged from this book.
Most likely part of the 2nd run of the 1st U.S. printing with the following points intact as required by Hammond and Anderson (A15), notably; Father Giles (see photo) instead of Farmer Giles pg 3, misprints on pages 330 and 352 that were corrected in a later impressions. No period after Feanor on p.330, line 4, the word "and" between "Lord of Waters and King of the Sea" is in italics on p.352, line 39. However; they do have the full lines of print on the right side of the type block on page 229 (midway down the page, corrected at 2nd run of the 1st printing.) and the jacket contains the $10.95 US price. This indicates these are probably the 2nd run of the 1st printing that occurred before the September 15, 1977 publication date of the 1st Edition. There where two print houses that did the 1st & 2nd run of the first printing in August 1977 and there does not appear to be a priority as to which run was release as 1st Edition, 1st printing. The 3rd and 4th printings were done in the beginning September before the 15th publication date thus they were also marked 1st Edition, 1st printing.
