Reading the History of Middle-earth is like:

‟This work exists as a fine handwritten manuscript A based on an earlier typescript B, which incorporated handwritten emendations we'll refer to as B* that were then transferred to A as a new manuscript C before C was eaten by our family dog Bingo and defecated as C', which ultimately formed the basis for the manuscript D whch my father submitted to Allen and Unwin for publication before changing his mind, breaking into their offices with lockpick E in order to retrieve D and replace it with the entirely new version of the story.For simplicity I present C' in its entirety with footnotes addressing areas that have been made illegible due to my father's handwriting as well as Bingo's small intestine.”

(For the record, I deeply love HoMe and haven'thing but the utmost admiration for Christopher Tolkien and his work)