Letter 138

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Letter 138
Recipient	Christopher Tolkien
Date	4 August 1953
Subject(s)	Reviewing The Lord of the Rings galley-proofs

Letter 138 is a letter written by J.R.R. Tolkien and published in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Summary

Galley-proofs of Volume I of The Lord of the Rings were sent to Tolkien in mid-July. Tolkien told his son that they had proven a bore. They were endless and did seem long-winded in parts. The printing was good but the impertinent compositors had put in corrections: altering dwarves to dwarfs, elvish to elfish, further to farther, and the worst, elven to elfin. Irritated, Tolkien had shot a "snorter" to Allen and Unwin which had produced a grovel.