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Fantastic 1969 fantasy poster map of Middle Earth, one of the rarest and most iconic of the Middle Earth posters. The map poster was drawn by Barbara Remington for Ballantine Books for their first American edition of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
The rendering of Middle Earth is surrounded by a fantastical, colorful border, very redolent of the graphic design of the late 1960s. Remington apparently was not allowed a copy of the trilogy by Ballantine, and so she had to complete her work with only a sketchy understanding of the books' content. As a result, Tolkien was confused by the lions and pumpkins in trees that appeared in some of the cover art. Indeed, on this map, the border illustrations are certainly evocative, but not necessarily of the content of the books themselves. Nonetheless, Remington's work represents a very important part of the history of LOTR design.
The map appears in a "$1.49" and a "$3.00" variant. The consensus is that the more expensive variant came after the less expensive variant. Making the present version the earliest.
Interestingly, Barbara "Brem" Remington was also the illustrator for this map of Central City, Colorado. Remington was born in Minnesota in 1929, and she passed away on January 23, 2020. She was an American commercial artist and illustrator. In addition to this poster for Ballantine Books, she also did the cover art for the first American edition of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
Barbara Remington is an American artist and illustrator. She is probably best known for her cover-art for Ballantine Books' first paperback editions of J. R. R. Tolkien's novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and for her Tolkien-related poster A Map of Middle-earth.
The popularity of the artwork led to a large edition of the poster as well as work for similar genre fiction such as The Worm Ouroboros by Eric Rücker Eddison. She has also illustrated a number of children's books.
Barbara Remington also illustrated “Scuttle The Stowaway Mouse”. Written by Jean and Nancy Soule. Copyright for story and illustrations 1969. This is a great example of Remingtons ability to understand and transform the characters into her own. Her imagination and eye for every small detail is impeccable.
Remington illustrated the book “Boat” in 1975. It’s a story told in art (no words).
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