Letter 165b

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Letter 165b
Recipient	Allen & Unwin
Date	15 July 1955
Subject(s)	Appendices for The Return of the King

Letter 165b 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 to Tolkien's publisher, Allen & Unwin, he discusses the complications he encountered while checking the remaining parts of the Appendices for The Return of the King, specifically the Angerthas table in Appendix E. He admits that the process has become disordered, partly due to his own inexperience. Tolkien suggests that time and money could have been saved if he had been able to meet with the production team before the material was sent to the printers.

Tolkien explains that one particular page was intended to serve as a key for the decorative runes without disrupting the appearance of the more carefully drawn Angerthas. The symbols he chose were not strictly phonetic but were within the scope of a 'non-specialized font'. The page he submitted was meant as a direction for printing, not as a final block, and this has resulted in a scruffy and unappealing appearance.

Due to a rush to send the materials Tolkien lacks an accurate record of his changes. He requests to see the final proofs before making further corrections. Tolkien also expresses concern about the narrative of Volume III, as the proofs he received did not include his belated alterations made in April of this year and he questions why these changes were not incorporated.