TCG Letter #2249

Ballantine wrote this typed noted to accompany the sale of an original Barbara Remington black & white concept art piece for the cover of The Hobbit, giving a bit of the history of the book cover process at Ballantine Books. When the final colour cover was published in 1965, Tolkien didn't like it, (Betty says here that he was "honored-if-slightly-finicky"). Ballantine Books had a standard contract with all of their artists where all the art was sold outright to the publisher.