Errors in MEDUSA'S COIL AND OTHERS

[Ningauble]

I am so mad right now. Apparently Arcane Wisdom did NOT correct the text of "The Night Ocean" when they published the paperback of Medusa's Coil and Others.

I proofed the text; they used the wrong version in the hc; I point this out and proof it AGAIN; they publish the wrong text AGAIN in the paperback.

Here are the corrections:

393.11-12: so I was not in it as long as I had previously been, and] so that I could not stay in it as long as I had done previously, and
393.12: and thus fell into] and thus I fell into
394.33: experience those moods, and] experience these moods once more, and
395.20-21: and which we do not witness)] and to which we are not witness)
395.28: floated them horribly ashore.] floated them ashore in a ghastly state.
395.29-30: excited alarm, since] excited alarm among the timid, since
402.18-19: which had resembled the ocean-cliffs] which had been like the ocean-cliffs
405.7-8: decay. I stepped close and turned the] decay. I turned the
409.25-26: whose meaning lies in the] whose meaning lies more in the
409.26: surrounding. Night] surrounding them than in anything obviously threatening. Night
414.17: along the shores,] along empty shores,
414.19: on the waves] on the distant waves

 

[w h pugmire esq]

I find this unfathomable. Arcane Wisdom Press is usually so cautious about texts, and if they had the corrections they should have used them. I understand your anger, but I hope you will still work with them on any future S. T. books. We appreciate, keenly, your amazing work!

 

[Ningauble]

I find this unfathomable. Arcane Wisdom Press is usually so cautious about texts, and if they had the corrections they should have used them. I understand your anger, but I hope you will still work with them on any future S. T. books.

Certainly, but from now on I will not be content with mere freebie copies, as I usually am. If I get paid maybe they will remember better to use the errata.

We appreciate, keenly, your amazing work!

Thank you Wilum!

In my anger I accidentally posted the wrong list. Here is the right one:

393.11-12: so I was not in it as long as I had previously been, and] so that I could not stay in it as long as I had done previously, and
393.12: and thus fell into] and thus I fell into
393.30-31: in a gore-splattered decline,] in a gore-spattered decline,
394.33: experience these moods, and] experience these moods once more, and
395.20-21: and which we do not witness)] and to which we are not witness)
395.28: floated them horribly ashore.] floated them ashore in a ghastly state.
395.29-30: excited alarm, since] excited alarm among the timid, since
399.17-18: that house, one on each side,] that house, as on each side,
402.18-19: which had resembled the ocean-cliffs] which had been like the ocean-cliffs
402.22-23: and subsided into one long] and subsided in one long
405.7-8: decay. I stepped close and turned the] decay. I turned the
409.25-26: whose meaning lies in the] whose meaning lies more in the
409.26: surrounding. Night] surrounding them than in anything obviously threatening. Night
410.30: windo;] window;
414.17: along the shores,] along empty shores,
414.19: on the waves] on the distant waves


(I may add that "windo" did not appear in the file I was sent for proofing. I wouldn't have missed something that obvious.)

 

[j d worthington]

This really is disappointing... especially with a story as fine as "The Night Ocean". It really would be nice to have a good textually sound -- well, as much as can be, given the souces -- edition of all the revisions and collaborations. They may not, in general, be as important as HPL's original works, but still they add a lot to our knowledge of his development as a writer, and at least a few of them are very good pieces in their own right....

By the way, I second Wilum in his thanks to you for all your hard work....