128 From a letter to Allen & Unwin

[Following Tolkien's ultimatum. Sir Stanley Unwin replied: 'As you demand an immediate "yes" or "no" the answer is "no"; but it might well have been yes given adequate time and the sight of the complete typescript. ' The matter rested there for the time being. In July, Allen & Unwin sent Tolkien the proofs of a new edition of The Hobbit, incorporating minor corrections to the text, and – much to Tolkien's surprise-substituting, for the original, the new version of part of Chapter V, 'Riddles in the Dark', which he had sent them in 1947 merely as 'a specimen of rewriting' (see no. III), and which he had not necessarily intended for publication.]

1 August 1950

The Hobbit: I return the proofs herewith. They did not require much correction, but did need some consideration. The thing took me much by surprise. It is now a long while since I sent in the proposed alteration of Chapter V, and tentatively suggested the slight remodelling of the original Hobbit. I was then still engaged in trying to fit on the sequel, which would have been a simpler task with the alteration, besides saving most of a chapter in that over-long work. However, I never heard any more about it at all; and I assumed that alteration of the original book was ruled out. The sequel now depends on the earlier version; and if the revision is really published, there must follow some considerable rewriting of the sequel.

I must say that I could wish that I had had some hint that (in any circumstances) this change might be made, before it burst on me in page-proof. However, I have now made up my mind to accept the change and its consequences. The thing is now old enough for me to take a fairly impartial view, and it seems to me that the revised version is in itself better, in motive and narrative – and certainly would make the sequel (if ever published) much more natural.

I did not mean the suggested revision to be printed off; but it seems to have come out pretty well in the wash.