Rayner Unwin

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Rayner S. Unwin (1926 – November 23, 2000) was the son of publisher Sir Stanley Unwin of the publishing firm George Allen & Unwin.

Young Unwin was a test subject for the firm; his father believed that children were the best judges of what made good children's books. He was paid one shilling for each written report, and in Rayner Unwin's own words, it was "good money in those days". In 1936, at the age of 10, he was asked to review The Hobbit, a book by J.R.R. Tolkien:

"Bilbo Baggins was a Hobbit who lived in his Hobbit hole and never went for adventures, at last Gandalf the wizard and his Dwarves persuaded him to go. He had a very exciting time fighting goblins and wargs. At last they get to the lonely mountain; Smaug, the dragon who guards it is killed and after a terrific battle with the goblins he returned home — rich!

This book, with the help of maps, does not need any illustrations it is good and should appeal to all children between the ages of 5 and 9."

"Not a very good piece of literary criticism," Rayner Unwin later said of the report, "but in those happy days, no second opinion was needed; if I said it was good enough to publish, it was published."

George Allen & Unwin published The Hobbit in September 1937. Rayner Unwin entered publishing himself around 1951, and was offered the manuscript for The Lord of the Rings. He thought it ought to be published as well, and writing to his father with the figures, he said he thought they might lose a thousand pounds. Sir Stanley wrote back, saying "If you think this to be a work of genius, then you may lose a thousand pounds."

Unwin was also responsible for dividing the book into three volumes, an idea of which Tolkien disapproved. However, the division made the book less unwieldy and its price more accessible to consumers.

Unwin took over as chairman of the publishing firm in 1968, upon the death of his father. In 1999 a memoir of the family firm, George Allen & Unwin: A Remembrancer, appeared. He died in 2000, in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire.