"J.R.R. Tolkien - The History of Middle-Earth - 07" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tolkien J.R.R)

inscription on Balin's Tomb, and Miss Tracy Muench, who has
been responsible for the photocopying of many manuscripts.
Mr Charles Noad very kindly undertook an additional and
independent reading of the proofs, together with a meticulous
checking of all references and citations from published works.
In this connection I must explain, what I should have explained
in The Return of the Shadow, a perhaps rather misleading
device that I have employed in these books: when relating an
earlier text to the published form I often treat passages as
identical although the wording actually differs in unimportant
ways. Thus for example (p. 370) 'Sam broke in on the discus-
sion... with "Begging your pardons, but I don't think you
understand Mr Frodo at all (FR p. 419) is not a misquotation
of The Fellowship of the Ring (which has Begging your
pardon," said Sam. "I don't think you understand my master at
all"'), but a 'shorthand' by which I indicate the precise point in
The Fellowship of the Ring but also cite accurately the reading
of the earlier text. I do this also when relating successive early
versions to each other.
The illustration of Orthanc in the Ring of Isengard repro-
duced as the frontispiece is the earliest of successive conceptions
of the tower, and may be taken to represent my father's image
of it at the time when the texts in this book were written. It was
done on the back of an examination script in 1942, and was
found, together with other drawings, among the original drafts
of 'The Road to Isengard'. The evolution of Orthanc will be
described in Volume VIII, but it seemed suitable to use this
picture as the frontispiece to The Treason of Isengard.

As in The Return of the Shadow, when citing texts I follow
my father's representation of names, which was very inconsis-
tent, especially in the use of capital letters. I abbreviate The
Fellowship of the Ring as FR, The Two Towers as TT, and The
Lord of the Rings as LR; and I refer to the previous volumes in
this 'History', listed on the title-page, as (e.g.) 'II.189, V.226'.

I take this opportunity to explain an error in The Return of
the Shadow (not present in the first American printing). After
correction of the second proofs, lines 11 - 12 on page 32 of that




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book came to be repeated in lines 15 - 16 in place of the correct
text, which should read: