Letter 147

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
← Letter 147 →
Recipient	Allen and Unwin
Date	15 June 1954
Subject(s)	Approval of the Lord of the Rings dust-jacket design

Letter 147 is a letter written by J.R.R. Tolkien and published in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Summary

The publishers altered the design of the dust-jacket for The Lord of the Rings in light of Tolkien's objections in Letter 146. Tolkien had received his advance copy the day before, called it a great moment and said that the book was very presentable indeed. The new jacket he found much improved and rather striking; he liked the grey paper and preferred it to the other colours.

However, the specimens of jackets for II and III made the need for differentiation apparent to him. Since the same device, for economy, was to be used throughout they all looked too much alike. Perhaps they could vary the colour of the major lettering, he asked. He did not mind at all and left it up to them.