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27 August
2024-8-27 5:49:28 PM UTC

Mauro D86 wrote:

Tuor son of Huor wrote:

Emilien wrote:

Very nice !
You Bliss Sir Orfeo looks very nice. Is it a first printing?

It's a second printing, not a first. But the dustjacket looks the same as that of the first printing as far as I can tell, which is nice.

I have a 1961 edition ("Reprinted from sheets of the first edition") and in the dustjacket the second name of the General Editors is different (Herbert Davis instead of F.P. Wilson)

Very interesting detail Mauro, well spotted !
I could check on my copy.
28 August
2024-8-28 2:13:55 AM UTC

Mauro D86 wrote:

I have a 1961 edition ("Reprinted from sheets of the first edition") and in the dustjacket the second name of the General Editors is different (Herbert Davis instead of F.P. Wilson)

Very interesting! Mine is identified as a 1961 printing too (see below) but has F.P. Wilson listed as general editor on the dustjacket and inside the book. Mauro D86 does your 1961 printing have Davis listed as general editor inside the book too or is Wilson still listed?

I see that for Elizabethan Acting (1951), Peterborough Chronicle (1958), and Apollonius of Tyre (1958), Wilson is listed as the general editor. But by Sonnets of William Alabaster (1959), Davis is listed as the general editor. Scull and Hammond note that at the time Apollonius of Tyre was submitted for publication, in 1954, Wilson was a general editor. This was the same year as Sir Orfeo's first publication, so I would think Wilson was general editor until about 1958 and Davis took over around 1959. This would make sense why Davis would be listed as general editor for the 1961 reprint.

Then I saw on Trotter's Sir Orfeo article (https://www.tolkienguide.com/modules/n ... t_id=56046#forumpost56046) he shared a photo of Mr. Underhill's Sir Orfeo under the "1954 Edition" which also lists Davis on the dustjacket.

Perhaps the simple answer is Mr. Underhill's book is a later printing and I just happened to get a first printing jacket on a second printing book (whether because a prior owner switched out the jacket or because it was remainder stock leftover from the first printing and the publisher put some first printing jackets on second printing books)?

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28 August
2024-8-28 8:14:34 AM UTC

Tuor son of Huor wrote:

Mauro D86 wrote:

I have a 1961 edition ("Reprinted from sheets of the first edition") and in the dustjacket the second name of the General Editors is different (Herbert Davis instead of F.P. Wilson)

Very interesting! Mine is identified as a 1961 printing too (see below) but has F.P. Wilson listed as general editor on the dustjacket and inside the book. Mauro D86 does your 1961 printing have Davis listed as general editor inside the book too or is Wilson still listed?

I see that for Elizabethan Acting (1951), Peterborough Chronicle (1958), and Apollonius of Tyre (1958), Wilson is listed as the general editor. But by Sonnets of William Alabaster (1959), Davis is listed as the general editor. Scull and Hammond note that at the time Apollonius of Tyre was submitted for publication, in 1954, Wilson was a general editor. This was the same year as Sir Orfeo's first publication, so I would think Wilson was general editor until about 1958 and Davis took over around 1959. This would make sense why Davis would be listed as general editor for the 1961 reprint.

Then I saw on Trotter's Sir Orfeo article (https://www.tolkienguide.com/modules/n ... t_id=56046#forumpost56046) he shared a photo of Mr. Underhill's Sir Orfeo under the "1954 Edition" which also lists Davis on the dustjacket.

Perhaps the simple answer is Mr. Underhill's book is a later printing and I just happened to get a first printing jacket on a second printing book (whether because a prior owner switched out the jacket or because it was remainder stock leftover from the first printing and the publisher put some first printing jackets on second printing books)?

Wilson (not Davis) is listed as one of the General Editors inside the book (so a mismatch between DJ and book inside).

Comparing the 1961 copy to the first edition from 1954 (I have a copy of this one too, but without DJ), I notice that:
- next to the title page, the list of Monographs is obviously longer in the 1961 edition;
- the year "1954" is missing from the title page of the 1961 edition;
- the name of the printer at the University Press is different (Charles Batey in the 1954 edition, Vivian Ridler in the 1961 one).

I pretty much agree with your explanation, it seems plausible to me (DJ switch by a previous owner or stock DJs). If the second hypothesis were true, then there could be two versions of the 1961 edition: an early one with Wilson and a later one with Davis.

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