Urulókë wrote:

Maybe Mr. Underhill can share the other design in your collection as well? The samples barely visible in the promo photo at the top of this thread clearly have differences from these three as well, so maybe there's a fifth design out there somewhere?

Certainly can, here is the 4th variant. Or Quiz variant.

What an awesome find by chance, if chance it was. Thanks for the excellent write-up Urulókë and looking forward to this bearing hopefully more fruit in the Letters Guide and potential future posts if permitted by the Estate.

The kind of finds that make treasure hunting always exciting
Congratulations, Urulókë !

I got a slip concerning the quiz when I purchased my copy of the 50th anniversary commemorative booklet

The Estate has kindly approved these summaries for the material that was not published by Carpenter or mentioned elsewhere, for use in our Guide. Each Guide letter summary has been updated, and the original post above, and here again below for convenience. I've also been given the green light to delve further into the German publisher letter exchange with information found in these photocopies (see some hints below), that will be forthcoming soon.

Carpenter's Letter #12 (J.R.R. Tolkien to Allen & Unwin Ltd., 13 April 1937)

• Also in this letter (not reproduced by Carpenter or mentioned by Scull and Hammond), Tolkien writes further about the dust jacket design, wondering if the lettering needs to be more clear and better placed, and wonders about the runic border placement and size. He asks if the submitted jacket "contains any hope", and says that he could redraw it on better paper in a day or two if needed.
  

Carpenter's Letter #13 (J.R.R. Tolkien to C.A. Furth, 13 May 1937)

• In unpublished material at the end of the letter he asks if the American publisher is going to want originals of artwork or photographs of them, and wonders if the English edition is going to be published soon.
  

Carpenter's Letter #14 (J.R.R. Tolkien to Allen & Unwin Ltd., 28 May 1937)

• In an unpublished section of this letter, Tolkien asks if Houghton Mifflin might publish the maps in their original colours, and with the runic map redrawn, and he notes that GA&U's "summer announcements" still say The Hobbit is coming out in June.
  

Carpenter's Letter #28 (J.R.R. Tolkien to Stanley Unwin, June 4th 1938)

• In an unpublished section of this letter, Tolkien shares his lengthy and entirely negative opinions about the Clark Hall translation of Beowulf.
  

Carpenter's Letter #29 (J.R.R. Tolkien to Stanley Unwin, 25 July 1938)

• At the end of this letter in an unpublished paragraph, Tolkien describes further the various edits that might be made to his proposed letter to the German publisher, and says at the end that it should be Unwin's decision what to send.
  

Carpenter's Letter #30 (J.R.R. Tolkien to Rütten & Loening Verlag, 25 July 1938)

• In the initial paragraph, elided by Carpenter in all editions, Tolkien mentions that he understands why they don't like his proposed translator, but asks to be given an opportunity to comment and make suggestions before publication if they arrange their own translation.

Excellent news! Thanks for your work on this Urulókë (past and future) and also to the Estate for permitting these details to be shared. Still amazes me that Tolkien was so humble and self-effacing about his artistic skills considering how beautiful his art is. His Hobbit cover is one of the all-time iconic cover designs. Even more brilliant considering it was designed by the author himself. Good luck with the searches into the German exchange!

Urulókë Thank you for your work and for sharing it with the community