Maurice Sendak’s “The Hobbit,” in pen and ink, 1967 (Credit: Maurice Sendak/Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Yale University)
Oh! What might have been! Tony diTerlizzi writes about Maurice Sendak’s failed attempt to illustrate J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit.
Thanks to Monica Edinger at Educating Alice for the link.
Nathalie Foy 
Given that I live in The Shire (the places that inspired Tolkien are all around me) I just have to follow this one through. Thanks so much for sharing.
I almost wish I didn’t know this. It’s so, so sad that a simple mistake by the editor stopped this from happening. It would have been amazing.
It really would have been amazing, but I have to say that part of me *is* glad I know and can mourn it. Isn’t that odd? I guess I love the idea of the almost-was. I had never put the two together before, and now I’m just glad I’ve had the chance to see these two on-spec illustrations. In my imaginary library, I can now picture The Hobbit with illustrations by Sendak.