Letter 264

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Letter 264
Recipient	Allen and Unwin
Date	11 September 1964
Subject(s)	Comments on the ugly tree Houghton Mifflin created to accompany Tree and Leaf

Letter 264 is a letter written by J.R.R. Tolkien and published in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Summary

Tolkien noted that the Houghton Mifflin Co. had sent him proofs for Tree and Leaf, with a block picture of a tree that was a mix between a fat sea-anemone and a pollarded Spanish chestnut, plastered with indecently ugly lettering. It had been expensive for him to return it to them for their deadline and that had contributed to a certain acerbity in his comments to them.