The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien by Humphrey Carpenter Page B

is in the text no mention of his acquiring of boots. There should be! It has dropped out somehow or other in the various revisions – the bootings occurred at Rivendell; and he was again bootless after leaving Rivendell on the way home. But since leathery soles, and well-brushed furry feet are a feature of essential hobbitness, he ought really to appear unbooted, except in special illustrations of episodes.
28 To Stanley Unwin
    [On 1 June, Unwin told Tolkien that Houghton Mifflin had now sold approximately three thousand copies of the American edition of
The Hobbit.
In April, the book had been awarded a $250 prize by the
New York Herald Tribune
for the best juvenile story of the season. Meanwhile Rayner Unwin had criticised the second and third chapters of the new story for having too much ‘hobbit talk’.]
    4 June 1938
    20 Northmoor Road, Oxford
    Dear Mr Unwin,
    Thank you for your comforting news. It is indeed comforting, for in spite of unexpected strokes of luck, such as the American prize, I am in considerable difficulties; and things will not be improved in September, when I vacate my research fellowship. That will mean, of course, that the pressure on my writing time will be less, except that as far as I can see I shall have to return to the examination treadmill 1 to keep the boat afloat.
    Your previous letters of April 29 and May 3 have I fear long lain unanswered. I meant long ago to have thanked Rayner for bothering to read the tentative chapters, and for his excellent criticism. It agrees strikingly with Mr Lewis’, which is therefore confirmed. I must plainly bow to my two chief (and most well-disposed) critics. The trouble is that ‘hobbit talk’ amuses me privately (and to a certain degree also my boy Christopher) more than adventures; but I must curb this severely. Although longing to do so, I have not had a chance to touch any story-writing since the Christmas vacation. With three works in Middle English and Old English going to or through the press, and another in Old Norse in a series of which I am an editor under my hand on behalf of the author who is abroad, 2 and students coming in July from Belgium and Canada to work under my direction, I cannot see any loophole left for months!. . . .
    Yours sincerely
    J. R. R. Tolkien.
    P.S. My answer was delayed, because your letter arrived in the midst of our little local strife. You may not have noticed that on June 2 the Rev. Adam Fox 3 was elected Professor of Poetry, defeating a Knight and a noble Lord. He was nominated by Lewis and myself, and miraculously elected: our first public victory over established privilege. For Fox is a member of our literary club of
practising poets
– before whom the
Hobbit
, and other works (such as
the Silent Planet
) have been read. We are slowly getting even into print. One of Fox’s works is
Old King Coel
, a rhymed tale in four books (Oxford).
29 From a letter to Stanley Unwin
    25 July 1938
    [Allen & Unwin had negotiated the publication of a German translation of
The Hobbit
with Rütten & Loening of Potsdam. This firm wrote to Tolkien asking if he was of ‘arisch’ (aryan) origin.]
    I must say the enclosed letter from Rütten and Loening is a bit stiff. Do I suffer this impertinence because of the possession of a German name, or do their lunatic laws require a certificate of ‘arisch’ origin from all persons of all countries?
    Personally I should be inclined to refuse to give any
Bestätigung
1 (although it happens that I can), and let a German translation go hang. In any case I should object strongly to any such declaration appearing in print. I do not regard the (probable) absence of all Jewish blood as necessarily honourable; and I have many Jewish friends, and should regret giving any colour to the notion that I subscribed to the wholly pernicious and unscientific race-doctrine.
    You are primarily concerned, and I cannot jeopardize the chance of a German