Shortly after the original publication of The Hobbit in 1937, his publisher, Allen & Unwin, tried to license several foreign language versions, including a German version. Before any German publishers would publish it, the Reich government wrote him a letter asking whether or not he was Aryan. He responded by saying that "I can only assume that you are asking if I am Jewish. I regret to respond that I have no ancestors among that gifted people." He added that although he did have German ancestry, "the time is not far distant when a German name will no longer be a source of pride". On account of this backhanded reply, The Hobbit was not published in Germany until after 1945.
