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TCG Letter #2176
From
C.A. Furth
To
J.R.R. Tolkien
Date
11 February 1939
Type
Unknown
Transcript
Unknown
Furth informs Tolkien that he has told the German publisher that he (Tolkien) wishes to see a proof of the translation of The Hobbit before going to print.
He says that Farmer Giles of Ham is a story he likes but it is difficult to publish as it represents a difficult marketing question as it is neither "juvenile", or "fiction". He says that it will do better after The Lord of the Rings has been published. [footnote]Hammond/Scull remark, see Chronology, p. 241 that "Furth’s remark... possibly inspires Tolkien to include a comment in the second manuscript of On Fairy- Stories" as Tolkien writes, "Grown-ups writing fairy-stories for grown-ups are not popular with publishers or book-sellers. They have got to find a niche. To call their works fairy-tales places them at once as juvenilia; but if a glance at their contents shows that that will not do, then where are you?"
The letter is held among the Tolkien–George Allen & Unwin archive, at HarperCollins.
He says that Farmer Giles of Ham is a story he likes but it is difficult to publish as it represents a difficult marketing question as it is neither "juvenile", or "fiction". He says that it will do better after The Lord of the Rings has been published. [footnote]Hammond/Scull remark, see Chronology, p. 241 that "Furth’s remark... possibly inspires Tolkien to include a comment in the second manuscript of On Fairy- Stories" as Tolkien writes, "Grown-ups writing fairy-stories for grown-ups are not popular with publishers or book-sellers. They have got to find a niche. To call their works fairy-tales places them at once as juvenilia; but if a glance at their contents shows that that will not do, then where are you?"
The letter is held among the Tolkien–George Allen & Unwin archive, at HarperCollins.
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