The talk was first published in essay form in 1983, in an anthology of Tolkien's previously unpublished works edited by his son, Christopher.

This version was edited by Dimitra Fimi and Andrew Higgins, receiving largely positive reviews from both Tolkien scholarship and the fandom.

Tolkien helped to create Nevbosh with a cousin, a code based on English with concepts from French and Latin included.

A Secret Vice was first presented as a lecture to the Samuel Johnson literary society at Pembroke College, Oxford on 29 November 1931 at 9pm[2] – it was the first time that Tolkien made his views of language creation and phonoaesthetics public.

This version omitted material from the original speech, such as a description and glossary of Tolkien's language Fonwegian,[c] an a posteriori and a priori mix, using grammatical elements from Latin, and a phonology from English.

[2] This was left out of the 1983 edition because it was written in pencil in the original manuscript, and it was therefore not clear that it was intended to be part of the main lecture.

"[13] John Garth wrote that A Secret Vice showed that "language creation, for Tolkien, was an act of gorgeous, individualistic rebellion in an era of barbarous conformity.

Cardoza views A Secret Vice as containing "a recipe for achieving ... depth" and that it was his application of the set of rules Tolkien outlined in the essay that allowed the realism of Middle-earth.

[5] Garth gave a summary of the book in New Statesman, writing "It’s a mishmash, with something for the Elvish buff and something for those who enjoy unlikely cultural collisions.

"[17] Dennis Wilson Wise viewed the book as an improved "go-to text", praising the "rigorous endnotes" and the "solid contributions being made to the field by this volume".