| Star Wars Novelization Original Art | |
| In December 1976, six months before the release of Star Wars, Ballantine Books published the novelization of the "soon to be a spectacular motion picture!" Considered to be the first Star Wars collectible, only 100,000 copies of this book were published. All quickly sold out well before the film's premiere on May 25, 1977.
It was an obvious choice to select Ralph McQuarrie to illustrate the cover since George Lucas had hired him as a conceptual artist to create not only the characters, but the environment and onscreen worlds they would inhabit. The sketches (upper left) show McQuarrie's process in painting the illustration that graces the final cover. The figures depicted suggest that their film counterparts still were being refined at the time of this painting. It is a formative Star Wars original that has been reused over the decades for such memorabilia as T-shirts, ties, magazine covers, postcards, collector cards -- the list goes on. The painting is a stunning and pivotal contribution to film history. (Note: Images shown in the photo are not proportionate.) |
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| Description by: | Wade Lageose |
| Photo: | Wade Lageose |
| From the collection of: | Wade Lageose |
| Country: | United States |
| Film: | A New Hope |
| Licensee: | Del Rey/Ballantine |
| Year: | 1977 |
| Category: | Art / Original Artwork |