TCG Letter #798

Tolkien says he has not been informed as to the status of a German translation of The Lord of the Rings. He notes that a "proposed translator was turned down partly owing" to his criticisms. He also mentions that he does not favour illustrations for it, but "the better the illustrator the les would be" his "objections". He also says that any illustrations would be a matter for the publisher.

A year later Tolkien had been sent a series of illustrations by a young artist Mary Fairburn, and his comment that "the better the illustrator" bore true as Tolkien was so taken by her artwork that he wanted her artwork to be included in an illustrtated edition of the Lord of the Rings. Sadly that never took off but Tolkien bought some pieces for himself. Search 'Fairburn' in the main Letters guide to see a group of letters to the young artist.