On my part, sorry for my rather slow replies! Things keep inconsiderately going on IRL. (Sidenote, how does one become a bibliographer and print historian, anyway?)
My Random House UK e-book of Song for a Dark Queen, which I think followed their Red Fox paperback, also lacks the glossary and the historical summary part of the author's note. Can't be sure without seeing the UK first edition from Pelham, but I'd bet that the extra material was added for the US Crowell edition.
I need to sum up what we've established in order to get my head around it...
The textual variants I know of so far are (in publication order): 1. Change of title between Hodder & Stoughton (UK 1st) and Coward-McCann (US 1st) editions of Rider of the/on a White Horse 2. Abridged UK editions of Rider and Sword at Sunset 3. Extra supplementary material in Crowell (US 1st) edition of Song for a Dark Queen (probably) 4. Corrections to Latin terms in FSG (US '90s) editions of Outcast
Setting aside the abridgements, UK vs. US editions are a main source of "unmarked" variations so far. Not surprising.
I tried to check out which publishers did at least the US first editions: 1. H.Z. Walck = the OUP novels from Eagle of the Ninth to Witch's Brat, plus Rudyard Kipling (Bodley Head). Walck editions identical to OUP in at least some cases. 2. Coward-McCann = at least the first four Hodder & Stoughton adult novels, not sure about Blood & Sand. At least one known change to Rider. 3. Dutton = Bodley Head books from Beowulf to Bonnie Dundee, but also a couple of late OUPs, Blood Feud and Frontier Wolf. No changes noted yet. 4. Thomas Y. Crowell = Pelham, i.e. just Song for a Dark Queen. Known likely changes. 5. FSG = Flame Coloured Taffeta (OUP), Shining Company, and Sword Song (Bodley Head), plus reprints from both those UK publishers. Not identical to OUP/Walck editions, with known edits to Outcast.
And that's not even getting into later editions, except for FSG. As you said, FSG editions are probably the first place to look for changes.
And some textual "lineages" tentatively reconstructed: Outcast: OUP -> Walck -> divergence in FSG reprints Mark of the Horse Lord: OUP -> Walck –> ??? new formatting –> Front Street & Chicago Review Press Sword at Sunset: Coward-McCann –> Chicago Review Press Song for a Dark Queen: Pelham -> Knight & Red Fox/Random House, Crowell diverges from Pelham or Knight
archive.org has most of Sutcliff's novels, often in multiple editions for the most-reprinted ones, though they lean more toward US editions. I don't know anything about text comparison software, but the archive allows controlled downloads, so it might be possible to use their files? Who knows; I don't think I'm going to embark on it rn, haha.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2022-09-30 03:47 pm (UTC)My Random House UK e-book of Song for a Dark Queen, which I think followed their Red Fox paperback, also lacks the glossary and the historical summary part of the author's note. Can't be sure without seeing the UK first edition from Pelham, but I'd bet that the extra material was added for the US Crowell edition.
I need to sum up what we've established in order to get my head around it...
The textual variants I know of so far are (in publication order):
1. Change of title between Hodder & Stoughton (UK 1st) and Coward-McCann (US 1st) editions of Rider of the/on a White Horse
2. Abridged UK editions of Rider and Sword at Sunset
3. Extra supplementary material in Crowell (US 1st) edition of Song for a Dark Queen (probably)
4. Corrections to Latin terms in FSG (US '90s) editions of Outcast
Setting aside the abridgements, UK vs. US editions are a main source of "unmarked" variations so far. Not surprising.
I tried to check out which publishers did at least the US first editions:
1. H.Z. Walck = the OUP novels from Eagle of the Ninth to Witch's Brat, plus Rudyard Kipling (Bodley Head). Walck editions identical to OUP in at least some cases.
2. Coward-McCann = at least the first four Hodder & Stoughton adult novels, not sure about Blood & Sand. At least one known change to Rider.
3. Dutton = Bodley Head books from Beowulf to Bonnie Dundee, but also a couple of late OUPs, Blood Feud and Frontier Wolf. No changes noted yet.
4. Thomas Y. Crowell = Pelham, i.e. just Song for a Dark Queen. Known likely changes.
5. FSG = Flame Coloured Taffeta (OUP), Shining Company, and Sword Song (Bodley Head), plus reprints from both those UK publishers. Not identical to OUP/Walck editions, with known edits to Outcast.
And that's not even getting into later editions, except for FSG. As you said, FSG editions are probably the first place to look for changes.
And some textual "lineages" tentatively reconstructed:
Outcast: OUP -> Walck -> divergence in FSG reprints
Mark of the Horse Lord: OUP -> Walck –> ??? new formatting –> Front Street & Chicago Review Press
Sword at Sunset: Coward-McCann –> Chicago Review Press
Song for a Dark Queen: Pelham -> Knight & Red Fox/Random House, Crowell diverges from Pelham or Knight
archive.org has most of Sutcliff's novels, often in multiple editions for the most-reprinted ones, though they lean more toward US editions. I don't know anything about text comparison software, but the archive allows controlled downloads, so it might be possible to use their files? Who knows; I don't think I'm going to embark on it rn, haha.