Letter 271

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
← Letter 271 →
Recipient	Rayner Unwin
Date	25 May 1965
Subject(s)	Struggling to revise The Lord of the Rings, the Ace Books controversy

Letter 271 is a letter written by J.R.R. Tolkien and published in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Summary

Tolkien was not relishing the re-editing of The Lord of the Rings. It was difficult if not impossible to find more than a small number of necessary or desirable changes. His admiration had grown for the poor author (who now seemed a remote friend) and the tightness of his construction. He hoped that changing the introductions, considerably modifying the appendices, and including an index would be sufficient for the purpose.

Tolkien mentioned that in every response to "fan" letters from the U.S. he informed the writers that Ace Books has published without consent and no remuneration to him or his rightful publisher. He asked Unwin if this were done on a larger scale would it be useful.