A Don on a Sidetrack

Abstract

Soon after the publication of The Hobbit, Tolkien wrote in a letter to his publisher Stanley Unwin on October 15, 1937 (Letter 17), with some slight irony:

I think “Oxford” interest is mildly aroused. I am constantly asked how my hobbit is. The attitude is (as I foresaw) not unmixed with surprise and a little pity. My own college is I think good for about six copies, if only in order to find material for teasing me. Appearance in The Times convinced one or two of my more sedate colleagues that they could admit knowledge of my “fantasy” (i.e. indiscretion) without loss of academic dignity. The professor of Byzantine Greek bought a copy, “because first editions of ‘Alice’ are now very valuable.” I did hear that the Regius Professor of Modern History was recently seen reading “The Hobbit.” It is displayed by Parkers but not elsewhere (I think).