Uncorrected Proof of the Fellowship of the Ring

They fixed the link! It wouldn't load for me earlier today. That's a nice shot of the poem with the original wording (shadow that would change to darkness). Thanks for sharing!

It is also on tolkienbooks.net, http://www.tolkienbooks.net/php/lotr-print-runs.php.

I also wonder if 'shadow' instead of 'darkness' was a mistake, as in The History of Middle-Earth, Christopher says that it was 'darkness' originally.

The correction made by Tolkien

Trotter edit

Image from http://tolkieniano.blogspot.com

So, Tolkien corrected the mistake made in the proof copy by the typesetters.

He must have made at least one other change after this, because the published version has 'Shadows' and not 'shadows'.

When he first wrote this line, it was meant to be 'darkness' and not 'shadow'.

Is that correct as I am questioning this comment in the article above and Urulöké's comment in the thread?

"The final published version reads “One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them.” Tolkien apparently preferred “shadow,” but his editor said there were too many shadows in the ominous rhyme, and suggested one be stricken from it."

"That's a nice shot of the poem with the original wording (shadow that would change to darkness)."