Letter 165a

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Letter 165a
Recipient	Allen & Unwin
Date	5 July 1955
Subject(s)	Appendices in The Return of the King

Letter 165a is a letter written by J.R.R. Tolkien and published in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien: Revised and Expanded edition.

Summary

In this letter Tolkien addresses his publisher Allen & Unwin regarding the proofs of the Appendices in The Return of the King. He notes that the proofs arrived later than expected and expresses concern over the tight timeline, as there are 103 pages of closely printed material and numerous references to check. He acknowledges that the work has been done well, with few corrections needed at first glance.

However, he mentions not having a paged copy of the narrative (pages 1–312 of Volume III) to verify the corrections he had previously sent, which include adjustments necessitated by text assimilation and new maps. This is also needed to correct footnote references in the Appendices. Tolkien resolves to send the marked proofs back by the following week, despite the cost of losing sleep, as he had lost three days of leisure and was not as free as before. Finally, he requests a revised copy for final approval.