1965 Ballantine / Barbara Remington 'Wilderness' Lord of the Rings Poster

This is the rare 1965 Ballantine 'Wilderness' poster by Barbara Remington issued for the American release of the paperback edition of J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. The artwork was used as the cover art for each of the three volumes such that, set together, they formed a triptych. The artwork was also issued, as here, in an enormous panoramic poster wherein all three images are joined as one. Remington's work played a significant role in popularizing Tolkien's work worldwide.

An Unknown Land

When Ballentine commissioned Barbara Remington to produce cover illustrations for the American issue of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, they were uncannily reluctant to supply pre-release copies of the novels - so Barbara had to complete the illustrations with only a tenuous knowledge of the trilogy. Upon seeing her illustrations, Tolkien was justly confused by the lions and 'pumpkins in trees'. Remington's cover work nonetheless was popular and became synonymous with Tolkien's novels - so popular in fact Ballentine hired Barbara again to incorporate Tolkien's map of Middle Earth into a large promotional poster utilizing some of her most memorable Tolkien imagery.

Publication History and Census

There are many conflicting dates and other data associated with this poster. It was commissioned for the 1965 Ballantine U.S. paperback issue of the Lord of the Rings. Most examples have complex and seemingly meaning codes at the bottom right, some have prices. The prices help date the map. We've seen examples at 1.95, 5.00, 5.95, and 7.00 USD. Some have a Ballantine Books copyright, some do not. Some later editions even have an ISBN number. Generally, we believe that the earlier examples sent to bookstores as promotions were not available for general sale, and so have no price less ancillary data - as here. On this example in the lower right, part of the number is obscured, but we believe it was 20046-500.