D2.1.
First Harper Printing (New York,
1849)
. . . [transcription of title page]
collation. 12°: A-Q12 R10, 202
leaves, pp.
i-v vi-xi xii 13 14-390 391-394 1
2-10
(but without numbers on the 61 pages with chapter openings).
Signatures. $1,5 (-A1, R5), with $5 signed '$*'.
[_]
Collation. This collation is shown to illustrate a
problem posed by the pagination here that did not arise with the Bentley
edition: there are no running titles or page numbers on the pages that begin
new chapters. This fact would be reported in the paragraph on typography,
but it also needs to be taken into account in the register of pagination here.
For this book, it seems sufficient to insert a parenthetical explanation rather
than to enumerate the 61 affected pages, but for another book (particularly
from an earlier period and with irregular pagination) the decision might be
different. In any case, the sequence "14-390" should not be interrupted 61
times—a procedure that would require the reader to look carefully
through the entire series of numbers. If the numbers are to be recorded,
they should be brought together in the appended parenthesis.
contents. . . . 391-394 advertisements for
Typee, Mardi, Omoo, and
Charles
Lyell's A Second Visit to the United States.
1-10
"Book List of the Present Season," dated October 1849.
[_]
Contents. Only the end of the contents paragraph is
shown here to make the point that advertisements on integral leaves must
be reported in this paragraph, because they constitute part of the contents
of the sheets. (But advertisements that form a separate gathering and were
inserted by the binder are not included in the collation or contents
paragraphs but only in the binding description.)
paper. . . .
typography. . . . Typographical variation. Several
sheets
occur in variant states as a result of plate damage. Four of the most
prominent instances of damage, at points where some copies print properly,
occur in the following words: 37.4,5 'stationery' / 'her' (as in copies 3,
11); 153.35,36 'might' / 'of' (10); 275.32,34 'with' / 'him' (4); 290.33,34
'pictures' / 'leading' (1-3, 11). Whether these instances of damage serve to
distinguish second printings of the sheets in which they appear is not clear,
for all examined copies contain sheets in both undamaged and damaged
states. Thus if there was indeed a second 1849 printing (see D2.2 below),
it occurred when some sheets of the first remained unbound, and sheets of
the two printings were used indiscriminately in making up copies.
[_]
Typography. The section on typographical variation
is
given here because it raises a different problem from the shifting type in the
Bentley edition. Here there is some question whether two 1849 printings in
fact occurred, and the uncertainty must be explained (with a cross-reference
to the fuller comment at D2.2) so that readers have a basis for judging for
themselves the status of copies they examine.
bindings. Published simultaneously in both cloth casing and paper
wrappers.
[_]
Bindings. Here the heading is in the plural and the
paragraph divided into two subsections, since the Harpers made
Redburn available in both cloth and paper. The description
of
the wrappers would conform to the same plan as that of cloth bindings:
description of the material (whether paper or some other material, and its
style, thickness, and color) would be followed by an account of the front
cover, the spine, the back cover, and the edges (and, when there is printing
on them, the inside covers). Because wrappers are generally of paper and
contain a considerable amount of printed text, the problems they pose for
description are analogous to those offered by dust jackets—see
Tanselle
1971(2), which includes sample descriptions (p. 114). The subsection on
wrappers would of course identify (by copy number) which copies
examined are in wrappers—just as any other feature not identical in
all
copies is documented by reference to specific copies. I have treated the
wrappers here as a variant binding, not as a feature indicative of a separate
issue, although one could argue that they represent a discrete (if
simultaneous) marketing effort. In an instance of this kind (as opposed to
the Bentley situation above), it is a matter of little moment whether or not
one introduces the issue classification: to do so would make
the
arrangement of material under D2.1 somewhat less convenient and would
produce no compensating advantage (conceptual or practical). One should
in general be conservative in the designation of issues, and when there is
no compelling need for the classification it probably should be avoided. For
an exposition of the view that such decisions ought to be a matter of
reasoned judgment, not of mechanical rule, see Tanselle 1975, esp. pp.
42-56, which also develops a working definition of
issue.
Casing. Two casings have been noted, presumably
reflecting successive bindings-up, but the order is not known. (A)
Material. Cord cloth (306), dark reddish purple (242) or dark
grayish purple (229). Some copies exhibit what seem to be other colors,
such as very dark bluish green (166) on copy 3, very dark greenish blue
(175) on copy 10, and grayish brown (61) on copy 11; these colors,
however, may be the result of fading and may not represent actual variants.
. . . Endpapers. Light yellow (86) coated paper, accompanied
at front and back by a binder's gathering of four leaves (one stuck under
the pastedown, one stuck to the free endpaper, and two as flyleaves). (B)
. . .
Wrappers. . . .
copies examined. . . .