The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien himself. In letters 29 and 30, it appears that a German translation of "The Hobbit" was being negotiated in 1938. The German firm enquired whether Tolkien was of "Arisch" (Aryan) origin. Tolkien was infuriated by this, and wrote two drafts of possible replies for his publisher to choose. The first one is not present – in it Tolkien is assumed to have refused to give any declaration whatsoever of his racial origins. The second, surviving, draft included: A former signals officer at the Battle of the Somme, Tolkien frequently expressed his great dislike for war, whatever the cause. This is
J. R. R. Tolkien, A Descriptive Bibliography J. R. R. Tolkien, A Descriptive Bibliography J.R.R. Tolkien, A Descriptive Biography is a work by Douglas A. Anderson and Wayne G. Hammond that is a complete bibliography of the publications of J. R. R. Tolkien. It has a foreword by Rayner Unwin. The book subdivides the works of Tolkien into the following sections: The book has been in two editions, a first printing published in 1993 by St. Paul's Bibliographies, and a second printing in 2002 by Oak Knoll Press. A review for the Bibliographical Society of America by Barbara A. Brannon calls it "an essential guide" for scholarship.