The J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide: Volume 1: Chronology. Christina Scull

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СКАЧАТЬ have to be turned parallel with the spine of the book (Tolkien–George Allen & Unwin archive, HarperCollins). Allen & Unwin will try a cunning method to deal with the ‘moon-letters’ on Thror’s Map (probably they mean to print the runes in a grey tone). Furth asks Tolkien where the interior illustrations should be placed in the book. In regard to Mr. Bliss, the manuscript of which Furth is returning, Allen & Unwin would like to publish it but are concerned about the cost of printing. Furth asks Tolkien to redraw his lavishly coloured pictures in only three colours and black, to make them easier and cheaper to reproduce. He is willing to call on Tolkien in Oxford to explain better what is needed. He also discusses the calligraphy or type that might be used in place of Tolkien’s original lettering. – Rayner Unwin enthusiastically reports on Farmer Giles of Ham and Roverandom. He thinks that both books need illustrations, and suggests that they might be published together.

      14 January 1937 Tolkien visits the British Museum in London, perhaps to do research in its manuscript or book collections. He also calls on George Allen & Unwin in nearby Museum Street, hoping to discuss The Hobbit, but C.A. Furth and Susan Dagnall are not in the office due to illness.

      17 January 1937 Hilary Full Term begins. Tolkien’s scheduled lectures and classes for this term are: The Elder Edda on Tuesdays at 12.00 noon in the Examination Schools, beginning 19 January; The Vespasian Hymns: Grammar and Phonology on Thursdays at 11.00 a.m. in the Examination Schools, beginning 21 January; Fundamental Problems of Old English Phonology on Thursdays at 12.00 noon in the Examination Schools, beginning 21 January; and Old English Verse Texts (Class), at an hour and place to be arranged. Tolkien is also listed as one of a series of lecturers (with Nevill Coghill, H.V.D. Dyson, C.S. Lewis, and C.L. Wrenn) on Hamlet, Fridays at 5.00 p.m. in the Examination Schools, beginning 22 January. – Tolkien writes to C.A. Furth. He is endeavouring to earn a grant for ‘research’ in addition to his ordinary duties, but might find odd moments to redraw Mr. Bliss, especially as he is free from the burden of examining for two years. He would welcome Furth’s advice. He did not imagine that Mr. Bliss was worth so much trouble. ‘The pictures seem to me mostly only to prove that the author cannot draw’ (Tolkien–George Allen & Unwin archive, HarperCollins). Regarding The Hobbit, he had not intended Thror’s Map to be used as an endpaper. He discusses the placement of Wilderland and of the four drawings (other than maps) he sent on 4 January. He now sends six more, probably drawn after his earlier drawings were accepted: The Hill: Hobbiton across the Water, The Trolls, The Mountain-path, The Misty Mountains Looking West from the Eyrie towards Goblin Gate, Beorn’s Hall, and The Hall at Bag-End, Residence of B. Baggins Esquire (Artist and Illustrator, figs. 97, 102, 109, 111, 116, 139; Art of The Hobbit, figs. 10, 16, 34, 38, 44, 90). The final pen and ink version of The Hill has evolved through several sketches and drawings. For The Trolls Tolkien has abandoned an earlier drawing, Trolls’ Hill (Artist and Illustrator, fig. 99; Art of The Hobbit, fig. 13) and an intermediate illustration, The Three Trolls Are Turned to Stone (Artist and Illustrator, fig. 100; Art of The Hobbit, fig. 15), instead adapting a picture by Jennie Harbour for a retelling of ‘Hansel and Gretel’. The Misty Mountains Looking West has been redrawn from a similar version (Artist and Illustrator, fig. 110; Art of The Hobbit, fig. 37). Beorn’s Hall is adapted from an earlier picture by Tolkien, Firelight in Beorn’s House, which had been inspired by a drawing of a Norse hall in a book by E.V. Gordon (Artist and Illustrator, figs. 115, 114; Art of The Hobbit, figs. 44, 41).

      22 January 1937 In the evening, Tolkien attends a dinner of The Society hosted by Michael Holroyd in the new Common Rooms at Brasenose College, Oxford. Twelve members are present. Holroyd speaks about careers for undergraduates, referring to the declining birth rate and the experience of foreign universities.

      23 January 1937 Susan Dagnall asks Tolkien if he could see her and C.A. Furth in Oxford on either Saturday or Sunday, 13 or 14 February, to discuss the problem of illustrations for Mr. Bliss. Allen & Unwin can include at least four of the six additional Hobbit drawings without increasing the price of the book, and perhaps will use a fifth on the dust-jacket. (In the event, all will be printed in the book.) She asks Tolkien to send them again the original drawing of Thror’s Map, as the blockmaker omitted the ‘moon-letters’. Fresh blocks will have to be made, but the map will be folded and tipped in at the point Tolkien wants. – Tolkien replies to Susan Dagnall that he will keep 13 and 14 February open, but the afternoons or evenings are best for him to receive visitors. He sends Allen & Unwin the original of Thror’s Map, hoping that they can print the runes on the back as intended. He has drawn a copy of the runes in mirror-reverse, so that if viewed through the sheet when held up to the light, they will read the right way around. He returns proofs of the earlier illustrations he has been sent and notes defects in the reproductions of Mirkwood and Wilderland. Elaine Griffiths has been appointed to a position in the Society of Oxford Home-Students from next term, but Tolkien hopes that they will both finish their work on the Clark Hall Beowulf before the present term ends.

      1 February 1937 Susan Dagnall writes to Tolkien, to correct a misstatement in her letter of 23 January. Thror’s Map will have to be printed as an endpaper in The Hobbit after all for reasons of cost, but the runes will be printed so that they do not appear ‘so blatantly on the front’ (Tolkien–George Allen & Unwin archive, HarperCollins). The defects Tolkien noted on the proofs of Mirkwood and Wilderland will be corrected. Dagnall sends rough proofs of the four drawings to be included in the book from the second group; Allen & Unwin still hope to squeeze in the remaining two at the ends of chapters.

      2 February 1937 R.W. Chambers writes to Tolkien, urging him not to delete a single word from Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics when it is prepared for publication.

      4 February 1937 Tolkien’s poem The Dragon’s Visit, one of the ‘Tales and Songs of Bimble Bay’, written probably c. 1928, is published in the Oxford Magazine for 4 February 1937.

      5 February 1937 Tolkien attends an English Faculty Board meeting. The minutes will record:

      A Standing Order was made that no application for admission as a Probationer B.Litt. Student or Advanced Student should be considered by the Applications Committee unless the applicant had previously been in communication with a person or persons appointed by the Board to interview such candidates. The Board appointed Professor Nichol Smith and Professor Tolkien for this purpose. [Oxford University Archives FA 4/5/1/1]

      – Tolkien writes to Susan Dagnall, confirming their appointment for 13 February. In regard to Thror’s Map, he relents: ‘Let the Production Dept. do as it will’. He approves the rough proofs of the four drawings, but marks two defects in the block for The Trolls. He comments that he should not have put in a wash shadow by the door in The Hall at Bag-End, which in the line-block has come out black, obscuring detail. He would have written sooner, but has had ‘three desperately crowded days’ (Tolkien–George Allen & Unwin archive, HarperCollins).

      8 February 1937 Tolkien writes to R.W. Chambers. He sends information about A.L. Rowse which Chambers had requested, and tells him about the forthcoming publication of The Hobbit.

      13 February 1937 Susan Dagnall visits Tolkien in Oxford at 3.00 p.m. See note.

      18 February 1937 A revised version of Tolkien’s poem Knocking at the Door: Lines Induced by Sensations when Waiting for an Answer at the Door of an Exalted Academic Person (first composed in 1927) is published in the Oxford Magazine for 18 February 1937 as by ‘Oxymore’.

      19 February 1937 Tolkien attends a Pembroke College meeting.

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