1955. Tolkien writes in his near-calligraphic script to Anne Ford of Houghton Mifflin, defending himself to his publishers from a piece written by Harvey Breit in the New York Times Book Review, while also saying he is pleased to be the subject of a talk by Gilbert Highet, "or rather (as I hope) my book: I hope indeed he will concern himself mainly with The Lord of The Rings, and as little as possible with me. The relation between the two is (naturally) far too complex for a few 'facts' to elucidate... ....This is not either ill temper (I am of quite a kindly disposition) or modesty (I am quite prepared to talk about myself at length, when I have time). But I have just emerged from a very grueling time of unremitting labours, and long for some rest and sleep --- but I have all the final proofs of Vol. III upon me." He then says he will, out of sheer pity and amusement, enclose a few notes (not included here), and ends by requesting the use of an alternate mailing address in the future. Signed, "Yours sincerely/ J.R.R. Tolkien." This corresponds to letter #165 from Humphrey Carpenter's Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (Houghton Mifflin, 1981). Nearly 300 words; written on both sides of the page. 5-3/16" x 6-3/4". Publisher's notation in upper margin, where there is also a small piece of edge tape. Near fine. Tolkien's letters written prior to the completion of The Lord of the Rings are both scarcer than his later letters and often more interesting, in that they deal with his actual work and himself as a working writer, rather than as a celebrity and cult figure as he later came to be, at least to much of his audience. This letter, written to his publisher after he had finished The Return of the King but prior to having completed the revisions of its proofs, shows him as a busy, working writer, with no real hint yet of the impact his work will have, and appreciating that a well-known literary personage -- Highet -- will be devoting time and energy to the work that had dominated Tolkien's life at this point for the better part of a decade. [#036662] $25,000