Editing Led Zeppelin IV (section)

==Cover==
{{multiple image
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| direction         = horizontal
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| total_width       = 500
| image1            = Zoso-square-layout.svg
| alt1              = Four hand-drawn symbols
| caption1          = The four symbols represent (from top left clockwise): Page, Jones, Plant, and Bonham
| image2            = Lot long photo frameless.jpg
| alt2              = A man with a thick bundles of sticks on his back
| caption2          = Lot Long, a Wiltshire [[Thatching|thatcher]] in a 1892 photograph by Ernest Howard Farmer<ref name="Fraser">{{cite web |url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/original-photograph-mysterious-figure-cover-000131906.html |work=[[Louder Sound]] |title=An original photograph of the mysterious figure on the cover of Led Zeppelin IV has been discovered in an old photo album – and he's been identified |first1=Fraser |last1=Lewry |date=7 November 2023 |via=[[Yahoo!]]}}</ref>
| image3            = Salisbury Tower, Birmingham.png
| alt3              = Residential tower block in Birmingham
| caption3          = Salisbury Tower, Ladywood, Birmingham.
}}

In place of a title, Page decided each member could choose a personal emblem for the cover. Initially thinking of a single symbol, he then decided there could be four, with each member of the band choosing his own.<ref name = Schulps/> He designed his own symbol{{sfn|Lewis|1990|p=51}} and has never publicly disclosed any reasoning behind it. It has been argued that his symbol appeared as early as 1557 to represent [[Saturn (astrology)#Saturn|Saturn]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Gettings | first = Fred | title = The Dictionary of Occult, Hermetic, and Alchemical Sigils and Symbols | publisher = Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=W-E9AAAAIAAJ | year = 1981 | location = London | page = 201 | isbn = 0-7100-0095-2 | access-date = 15 March 2011 | archive-date = 16 June 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130616012637/http://books.google.com/books?id=W-E9AAAAIAAJ | url-status = live }}</ref> The symbol is sometimes referred to as "ZoSo", though Page has explained that it was not in fact intended to be a word at all.{{sfn|Lewis|1990|p=51}} Jones' symbol, which he chose from [[Rudolf Koch]]'s ''Book of Signs'', is a single [[circle]] intersecting three ''[[Vesica piscis|vesicae piscis]]'' (a [[triquetra]]). It is intended to symbolise a person who possesses both confidence and competence.{{sfn|Lewis|1990|p=51}} Bonham's symbol, the three interlocking [[Borromean rings|(Borromean) rings]], was picked by the drummer from the same book. It represents the triad of mother, father and child, but, also happens to be the logo for the steel and armament producer [[Krupp]] and, turned upside down, [[Ballantine Brewery|Ballantine]] beer.{{sfn|Lewis|1990|p=51}} Plant's symbol of a feather within a circle was his own design, being based on the sign of the supposed [[Mu (lost continent)|Mu]] civilisation.{{sfn|Lewis|1990|p=51}} A fifth, smaller symbol chosen by guest vocalist [[Sandy Denny]] represents her contribution to "[[The Battle of Evermore]]"; the figure, composed of three equilateral triangles, appears on the inner sleeve of the LP, serving as an [[asterisk]].<ref name=sleeve/>

[[File:4 GeomShaps Triple triangle.svg|upright=0.682|thumb|[[Sandy Denny]]'s symbol of three downward-pointing [[equilateral triangle]]s]]
During Led Zeppelin's [[Led Zeppelin United Kingdom Tour Winter 1971|tour of the United Kingdom]] in winter 1971 shortly after the album's release, the symbols could be seen on the group's stage equipment; Page's on one of his amplifiers, Bonham's on his [[bass drum]] head, Jones' on a covering for his [[Rhodes piano]], and Plant's on the side of a PA cabinet. Only Page's and Bonham's symbols were retained for subsequent tours.{{sfn|Lewis|Pallett|2007|p=72}}{{sfn|Lewis|2010|p=97}}

The picture on the front of the album of an old man carrying a bundle of sticks on his back was bought in an antique shop in [[Reading, Berkshire]] by Plant.{{sfn|Lewis|1990|p=51}}<ref name = "guitarworld"/> The picture was then affixed to the internal, papered wall of a partly demolished suburban house for the cover photograph to be taken. Research in 2023 suggests that the image, which had previously been described as an [[oil painting]], is a black and white photograph dating to 1892 which had been [[hand-colouring of photographs|hand-coloured]]. The original photograph was taken by Ernest Howard Farmer (1856{{snd}}1944), the first head of the school of photography at [[Regent Street Polytechnic]]. The research also suggests that the stooped figure is Lot Long (or Lot Longyear, 1823–1893), a [[thatching|thatcher]] from [[Mere, Wiltshire|Mere]], Wiltshire.<ref name="Fraser"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/nov/08/led-zeppelin-iv-cover-photo-revealed-victorian-wiltshire-thatcher|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|title=Figure on Led Zeppelin IV cover identified as Victorian Wiltshire thatcher|first=Nadia|last=Khomani|date=8 November 2023 |accessdate=8 November 2023|issn=1756-3224|oclc=60623878}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Parker |first=Sophie |date=8 November 2023 |title=Original photo from Led Zeppelin IV album cover discovered |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-67336495 |access-date=8 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231108081112/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-67336495 |archive-date=8 November 2023}}</ref>

The block of flats seen on the album is Salisbury Tower in the [[Ladywood]] district of [[Birmingham]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/how-led-zeppelin-iv-album-12157063|title=How the Led Zeppelin IV album cover would look it was made today – 45 years on |newspaper=Birmingham Mail|date=10 November 2016 |access-date=11 July 2018|archive-date=20 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200420171234/https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/how-led-zeppelin-iv-album-12157063 |url-status=live}}</ref> Page has explained that the cover of the fourth album was intended to bring out a city/country dichotomy that had initially surfaced on ''[[Led Zeppelin III]]'', and a reminder that people should look after the Earth.<ref name = Schulps/> He later said the cover was supposed to be for "other people to savour" rather than a direct statement.<ref name="Jackson">{{cite news |last=Jackson |first=James |date=8 January 2010 |title=Jimmy Page on Led Zeppelin's good times, bad times and reunion rumour s |newspaper=[[The Times]] |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article6979627.ece_robert_plant |url-access=subscription}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The album cover was among the 10 chosen by the [[Royal Mail]] for a set of "Classic Album Cover" postage stamps issued in January 2010.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/jan/08/coldplay-album-stamp-approval | title=Coldplay album gets stamp of approval from Royal Mail | work=The Guardian | location=London | date=8 January 2010 | access-date=8 January 2010 | first=Sean | last=Michaels | archive-date=11 January 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100111051931/http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/jan/08/coldplay-album-stamp-approval | url-status=live }}</ref>

The inside illustration, entitled "The Hermit", painted by Barrington Coleby (credited to Barrington Colby MOM on the album sleeve),<ref name="sleeve">{{cite AV media notes|title=Untitled|publisher=[[Atlantic Records]]|id=K50008|year=1972}}</ref> was influenced by the design of [[The Hermit (Tarot card)|the card of the same name]] in the [[Rider–Waite tarot deck]].{{sfn|Lewis|1990|p=51}} This character was later portrayed by Page himself in Led Zeppelin's concert film, ''[[The Song Remains the Same (film)|The Song Remains the Same]]'' (1976).<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/the-10-wildest-led-zeppelin-legends-fact-checked-153103/the-old-hermit-in-the-led-zeppelin-iv-gatefold-is-a-character-from-the-lord-of-the-rings-152292/|title=The 10 Wildest Led Zeppelin Legends, Fact-Checked|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=21 November 2012|access-date=10 July 2018|archive-date=11 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180711034504/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/the-10-wildest-led-zeppelin-legends-fact-checked-153103/the-old-hermit-in-the-led-zeppelin-iv-gatefold-is-a-character-from-the-lord-of-the-rings-152292/|url-status=live}}</ref> The inner painting is also referred to as ''View in Half or Varying Light''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Led Zeppelin's Led Zeppelin IV|first=Erik|last=Davis|publisher=A&C Black|year=2005|page=36|isbn=978-0-826-41658-2}}</ref> The typeface for the lyrics to "Stairway to Heaven", printed on the inside sleeve of the album, was Page's contribution. He found it in an [[Arts and Crafts movement|Arts and Crafts]] magazine called ''[[The Studio (magazine)|The Studio]]'' which dated from the late 19th century. He thought the lettering was interesting and arranged for someone to create a whole alphabet.<ref name="guitarworld">{{cite magazine | last1 = Tolinski | first1 = Brad | last2 = Di Benedetto | first2 = Greg | title = Light and Shade | magazine = [[Guitar World]] |date=January 1998 }}</ref>