| H03077 "WORDSWORTH EDITION ON HARDY POEMS" HARDY FORUM ARCHIVE 9/6/03 |
|
|
|
Date: Sat, 6 Sep 2003 14:04:46 -0700 From: Betty <hardycor@owl.csusm.edu> Subject: Wordsworth Ed. of Poems
Dear All, I recently saw a volume of what appears to be the complete Hardy poems, published by Wordsworth, at a friend's home. I only glanced at it so don't have the full documentation. It is in paperback, and resembles the Gibson edition, but the poems are not numbered, and I didn't see any notes. The title was different as well--and misleading--something like The Works of Thomas Hardy. I was told it was very inexpensive. Do any of you know how reliable--or otherwise-- this edition might be? Thanks in Advance, Betty |
|
Date: Sun, 07 Sep 2003 10:18:22 +0200 Subject: Re: Wordsworth Ed. of Poems From: Eric Christen <ericjchristen@bluewin.ch>
Dear Betty, I have a few books published in the Wordsworth Poetry Library, e.g. The Works of Alfred Lord Tennyson, and I have always assumed that they were produced by the Wordsworth Trust in Grasmere. They are very cheap and the text appears to be reliable. Why don't you ask them directly? The address, I think, is <enquiries@wordsworth.org.uk>. Yours, Eric -- Eric Christen Email: ericjchristen@bluewin.ch |
|
Date: Sun, 07 Sep 2003 10:14:34 +0100 Subject: Re: Wordsworth Ed. of Poems From: Philip Irwin <philip.irwin@btinternet.com>
Published by The Wordsworth Poetry Library, 'The Works of Thomas Hardy' is indeed remarkably cheap - I think it cost me less than three pounds a very few years ago - about three poems a penny. It consists of, in chronological order, the volumes of poetry published by TH during his lifetime, and includes his prefaces. As far as that goes, it follows the same pattern as the Gibson edition. The differences are that there are no notes, and no attempt at editing - though it has a brief introduction, no editor is named. It is cheap because it reproduces the typeface of the original editions (and so the print is not always the sharpest). Additionally it doesn't include 'Domicilium' or the poems on the last 50 or so pages of Gibson's edition. In other words, if you have Gibson's edition you don't need this one. Anyone interested can have mine free if they pay the postage! The ISBN is 1853264024.
Philip |
|
From: Jcphardysoc@aol.com Date: Sun, 7 Sep 2003 07:59:43 EDT Subject: Re: Wordsworth Ed. of Poems
The Wordsworth Edition of Hardy's poetry is I believe a photographic reprint of Hardy's Collected Poems, published by Macmillan, which was the fullest edition available prior to the superior Gibson Complete Poems. The Wordsworth edition therefore reproduces the disintegrating typeface of the last reprints of the Collected Poems. Wordsworth specialize in budget priced reprints of classic novels and poetry (usually out of copyright) and have no connection with the Wordsworth Trust. The appearance of Wordsworth Classics about 15 years ago priced at £1 per novel in the UK did encourage other publishers (such as Penguin and OUP) to lower the prices of some of their paperback editions. Best wishes John Pentney |
|
Date: Sun, 07 Sep 2003 19:29:38 -0400 From: Robert Schweik <schweikr@localnet.com> Subject: Re: Wordsworth Ed. of Poems In reply to Betty's question, the 2002 TTHA Checklist has the following entry: Hardy, Thomas. The Collected Poems of Thomas Hardy. Ware: Wordsworth Poetry Library, 2002. á [Originally published as The Works of Thomas Hardy in 1994. Introduction, bibliography, and glossary by Michael Irwin.] That's all the information I have. A check with Michael Irwin might yield more. Bob Schweik |
|
Date: Sun, 07 Sep 2003 19:45:13 -0400 From: Robert Schweik <schweikr@localnet.com> Subject: Re: Wordsworth Ed. of Poems
Just a further note on Philip Irwin's note below. The information I provided (including Michael Irwin's responsibility for the introduction and other apparatus) is derived from the current entry in OCLC's Worldcat. The ISBN number given there is identical to that given by Philip, and the libraries recorded as possessing copies on 7 September 2003 are the BL and Oxford.
Bob Schweik |
|
From: "James Gibson" <james.gibson@ukgateway.net> Subject: RE: Wordsworth Ed. of Poems, Collected and Complete Poems Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 17:50:47 +0100
Dear All, Thomas Hardy's COLLECTED POEMS was first published in 1919. Hardy, whom we all know always wanted to be recognized as a poet rather than a novelist, had by that time had five books of verse published and for some time he had been suggesting to Macmillan that they should be collected into one volume.
It sold very well and his last three books of verse were added to it, one by one, until the book reached its final form in 1930. It was a big book of over 900 poems and it is sad that TH was never to see it in its final form.
It sold and sold and was reprinted again and again until by the time of the final printing in 1968 the printing plates had deteriorated badly. Full-stops had disappeared, semi-colons become colons, and the printed text could only be described as 'poor'. For example in the poem 'A Man' CP123 the word 'backed' had mysteriously become 'packed'. As there is no authority for this, and 'backed' is the far better word, one can only guess that the letter 'b' had fallen out and been replaced as a 'p' by someone in the printing-house.
As one of Macmillan's English advisers in the sixties and seventies, I warned them that the Hardy copyright was coming to an end, and that the time had come to think anew. This led to the New Wessex Edition and which is not as good as it should have been because it was proof-read 'in house'. It also resulted in my editing of the new COMPLETE POEMS, a job which was given to me because I had been working on the text of the poems for several years for the Variorum Edition. For my work on COMPLETE POEMS, which involved a complete recession of the text and took many months, Macmillan rewarded me with the magnificent sum of £300 and they failed to take my advice that to call the book COMPLETE Poems was unwise, as it assumed that no more poems would turn up. In fact, in the 2nd edition I have added one more poem.
When Hardy came out of copyright the firm Wordsworth, realizing that the copyright on the actual printing lasted for only twenty-five years (a fact not generally known), took advantage of this, and were free to reproduce the last edition of COLLECTED POEMS with all its sins upon it, and this they did. I donât know whether the 1968 printing is still being used by them or whether they have done some tidying up themselves. However, I tell my students that if they can't afford £15 for the present paperback, they can use the old COLLECTED Poems or the Wordsworth edition. They will, however, not have approximately 40 poems added to COMPLETE Poems. Kind regards, Jim
PS Thank you to all my Hardy friends who have sent me 'get well' cards. The new knee seems to be settling down well and I am out of hospital. |