JRR Tolkien relaxes in an idyllic spot in his beloved Oxford in 1972, a year before his death
BILL POTTER/CAMERA PRESS, ILLUSTRATION: SUE GENT
Stanley Unwin held a not unreasonable belief about chidren’s book publishing: the best way to know if the book was good was to have a child read it first. With that in mind, and being a publisher himself, he often took manuscripts home for his son, Rayner, to read. One day, the manuscript was a fantasy story, filled with wizards, dragons, elvish languages, mountainous treasures, magic rings and a race of creatures much like humans, but smaller.
“Bilbo Baggins was a hobbit who lived in his hobbit-hole and never went on adventures,” began Rayner’s report, complete with spelling errors. “At last, Gandalf the wizard and his dwarves persuaded him to go. He had a very exiting time fighting goblins and wargs. At last they got to the lonley mountain; Smaug the dragon who gawreds it is killed and after a terrific battle with the goblins he returned home – rich! ... It is good and should appeal to all children between the ages of 5 and 9.”