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D2. Original American Edition (New York: Harper, 1849)
D2. Original American Edition. Beginning here I shall abridge the sample (using the three-dot ellipsis mark), to avoid repetition of procedures already displayed, and shall print only those parts that illustrate something new.
. . . [introductory account]
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. . . .
D2.2. Second Harper Printing (New York, 1849)
Later Harper printings. The entries for D2.2 through D2.6 show how descriptions of later printings can build on the full description of the first printing and on each other, variously using prose paragraphs or more formulaic statements as the occasion warrants. In D2.2 a discussion of the problematical status of the second printing must come first, and since it explains the difference in collation and contents and draws on the typographical evidence, no separate paragraphs on those matters are called for. Bindings, however, are a separable matter and are best described here in a conventional binding paragraph. In the succeeding entries, D2.3 through D2.6, typographical variations play no role in identifying printings, and they are not taken up in the opening statements, which in these cases only need to be concerned with questions of title-page wording and dates, collation, and contents; typography as well as binding therefore has its own paragraph in these entries. And all entries must have a record of copies examined. The entries for these later printings, by drawing on prior entries, can be relatively concise, and yet the later printings are described no less fully than the first printing. (On the question of when to give less full descriptions, see the comments below on D4a.)
The title page is unchanged, but gathering R consists of twelve integral leaves (the four additional pages of advertisements being numbered 11 14 1 2—the last two are the beginning of a list of "Standard Illustrated
bindings. Both cloth casing and paper wrappers.
Casing. Three casings have been seen on copies with R12. (A) The same as casing A described above for copies with R10 (as on copies 1-8, 14, 17; the color on copy 10 appears as dark bluish green [165]). (B) . . . (C) . . .
Wrappers. . . .
copies examined. . . .
D2.3. Third Harper Printing (New York, 1850)
Besides the change of the title-page date to 1850, the most obvious alteration in the third printing occurs in the advertisements: R continues
typography. All copies exhibit several new instances of plate damage, including a few that alter the punctuation of the text: at 59.30 ('icebergs'), 170.14 ('Bob'), and 375.20 ('ladies') semicolons print as commas; at 72.5 ('around') a comma is missing; and at 202.35 ('earls') a comma prints as a period. The only prominent variation noted between copies of the 1850 printing is a gradual deterioration of the comma after 'MELVILLE' in the dedication: in some copies (e.g., 1, 6, 7, 11-14, 16) it prints as a damaged comma, in others (e.g., 2) it appears as a period, and in others (e.g., 4, 5, 8-10, 17) it does not print at all.
binding. . . .
copies examined. . . .
D2.4. Fourth Harper Printing (New York, 1855)
In place of the last two lines of the original title page, the following three lines appear: '329 & 331 PEARL STREET, | FRANKLIN SQUARE. | 1855.' The 1855 printing contains no advertising, and gathering R therefore consists of four leaves, the last one blank: A-Q12 R4, 196 leaves, pp. i-v vi-xi xii 13 14-390 391-392.
typography. . . .
binding. . . .
copies examined. . . .
D2.5. Fifth Harper Printing (New York, 1863)
The title page and collation are the same as in the 1855 printing, except for the change of the title-page date to 1863.
typography. . . .
binding. . . .
copies examined. . . .
D2.6. Sixth Harper Printing (New York, 1875)
The title page and collation remain the same as in the 1855 printing, except for the change of the title-page date to 1875. In addition p. 391 now contains advertising, headed "Harper's Catalogue" (with 392 still blank).
typography. . . .
binding. . . .
copies examined. . . .
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