When he awoke after Morgoth's defeat and the Breaking of Thangorodrim, Sauron came to the Elves in disuise and taught Celebrimbor the craft of ring-making. The first rings of power crafted by this pair were the lesser rings of power (you could almost call them Celebrimbor's "practice" rings). They didn't hold enough power for anyone to seriously worry about their whereabouts and Gandalf himself rather dismisses them in LotR in relation to the problem of the One Ring.
I believe these rings are what this passage refers to when it says "Elven-rings." "All the remaining Rings of Power," would refer to the sixteen.
You have to think rings of power (the practice rings) and Rings of Power (the twenty).
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- I must find the Mountain of Fire and cast the thing into the gulf of Doom. Gandalf said so. I do not think I shall ever get there.
- Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.
- Where are we going?...And why am I in this handbasket?
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