The Lord of The Rings. Comprising of: The Fellowship of the Ring; The Two Towers and The Return of the Kings. London: Folio Society, 1977. First Edition Thus. Quarter grey leather binding with grey cloth over boards, gilt titles & gilt embellishments to spines & upper covers; map endpapers. A fine bright set, housed in publisher’s slipcase.

The first Folio Society edition featuring the striking Illustrations by Ingahild Grathmer & drawn by Eric Graser.

The most remarkable aspect of this edition is its primary illustrator, Ingahild Grathmer. This is a pseudonym for Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. An avid Tolkien fan and a talented artist in her own right, she sent her own sketches of Middle-earth to Professor Tolkien in the late 1960s. Tolkien was reportedly impressed and gave his approval for her style, finding her visions of his characters to be close to his own.

However, they were rough sketches. The task of translating them into finished, print-ready artwork fell to the renowned British illustrator Eric Fraser, a master of line drawing and a frequent Folio Society collaborator.