Wayne Hammond reports that Pauline Baynes, long-time friend and favorite illustrator of J. R. R. Tolkien, just passed away at her home in Surrey. She would have turned 86 next month.

Tolkien said of her illustrations for Farmer Giles of Ham, "I am pleased with them beyond even the expectations aroused by the first examples. They are more than illustrations, they are a collateral theme. I showed them to my friends whose polite comment was that they reduced my text to a commentary on the drawings." (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien no. 120)

Pauline Baynes illustrated Farmer Giles of Ham (1949), The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book (1962), Tree and Leaf (1964), Smith of Wootton Major(1967) and Bilbo's Last Song (1974) after Tolkien's death. She also produced cover art for The Lord of the Rings (1973 one volume and 1981 three volume paperback editions) and map art for both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

She will be sadly missed.