For people who have not read it, the interview with Barbara hosted on the Tolkien Collector's guide is very interesting.

https://www.tolkienguide.com/modules/w ... x.php?page=Brem+Interview

She was put back in the same place she had been with The Hobbit, having the pressure to draw blind without seeing either book, “There wasn’t any time. They wanted them right away, and I had to draw all the covers at once.”

The Hobbit Tree in the picture is similar to Barbara's picture, you can't see in the picture from the programme above but it also has orange bulbs.

If you would like to see a lot more 'faux' Tolkien items then look at this appropriately named thread on the Lord of the Rings plaza, as they all seem to appear there.


Hideous

Thanks for the link to the Remington interview; it's very illuminating. I like to read about how artists come to do their work, though the story behind these book covers is a little unusual (!) I like this part:

>Barbara shared this little secret. “If you look at the art of the three books it’s really one big picture. Hold the covers next to each other, and fold them back just so, and you’ll see.”

“You didn’t draw three separate pictures?”

“No, it was one picture which was divided and used for the three books.”

I mention how such news might drive up the value of these books on EBay? We shared a laugh. <


Of course, we afficianados have known about this for decades, but I wouldn't mind betting some vendor would try shoving up prices on 'discovering' this fact!

Unlike Tolkien's opinion of her, I have a soft spot for Remington and have done so ever since I heard that she wrote an apologetic letter to Tolkien after reading LotR, enclosing a real olive branch!

On the collecting front: I have multiple copies of the Ballantine ed. of LotR with Remington covers, including a couple of boxed sets; and of course the Hobbit, with and without the lion. I actually like the lion; he has a friendly face!

And to cap it, I also have a set of Ace paperbacks. Gaughn's covers might be weird, but they're fun!

- Though, when it comes to paperback editions of The Hobbit, my number one choice has to be the Puffin Hobbit (1961) with the glorious wrap-around cover illustration by Pauline Baynes. A wonderful piece of work!

- Though, when it comes to paperback editions of The Hobbit, my number one choice has to be the Puffin Hobbit (1961) with the glorious wrap-around cover illustration by Pauline Baynes. A wonderful piece of work!

I also like the fact that I can read this paperback knowing that all the spelling mistakes (except one) have been corrected, after all what did a English Professor from Oxford University know This edition paperback is my reading copy of the book, but is in terrible condition compared with the copy shown.

Did Tolkien ever get an apology for this from Penguin Books? I agree with garm that the cover is excellent and it is a shame that it was never reused.

Well of course the good folk at Puffin were quite in the right (or so they thought!) After all; they corrected Tolkien's spelling after consulting the Oxford English Dictionary.

Now, can anyone tell us what was Tolkien's reply to that? (don't all rush at once).

I think we all know what Tolkien's response was , the one missed correction came from him after all (I am sure that he got crosser and crosser when looking through this copy of the book), but I still would like to know if he ever got an apology!

Penguin never got any more Tolkien books so clearly this caused huge problems for him and his publishers (GA&U).