Letter 295b

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Letter 295b
Recipient	Donald Swann
Date	12-13 July 1967
Subject(s)	Artwork in The Road Goes Ever On

Letter 295b is a letter written by J.R.R. Tolkien and published in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien: Revised and Expanded edition.

Summary

In this letter to Donald Swann Tolkien discussed the presentation details of The Road Goes Ever On, particularly concerning the inclusion of decorative designs by a Samuel Hanks Bryant. Although Unwin and Swann had negotiated various concessions from Houghton Mifflin, they agreed not to object to these designs unless Tolkien felt strongly against them.

Tolkien expressed his reluctance to include Bryant's decorative elements, describing them as "tasteless squiggles" and unsuitable for the book's content. He criticised Bryant's calligraphic flourishes as inappropriate and did not fit with the book's rustic or archaic Elvish texts. Tolkien concluded that though the samples he saw were merely proposals and not final versions the nonsensical "Elvish" decorations would undermine the serious treatment of the Elvish language in the book, making it appear ridiculous.