Mon, 12 Feb 2024 18:39:17 -0500
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I’ve been comparing the spelling between the first edition (1869) of The Innocents Abroad, and the Author’s National Edition (which is copyright 1897 and 1899).
I’m curious if the changes in spelling were approved by Twain, in this edition, or other uniform editions (which I have not yet looked at). Has there been anything written about the changes between editions and how they came about?
Here are some of the changes I’ve noticed so far:
Spelling changes:
amphitheatre amphitheater
ancle ankle
centre center
ecstacy ecstasy
irruption eruption
lettred lettered
lustre luster
meagre meager
ploughed plowed
pretence pretense
spectre specter
sceptre scepter
staid stayed
theatre theater
woollen woolen
Words combined:
any thing anything
any body anybody
any where anywhere
every thing everything
every body everybody
every where everywhere
While these were not combined:
any one
every one
near by
Also, pic-nic was changed to picnic, but to-day, to-morrow, and to-night were not changed.
Looking at some of the words in Google Books Ngram Viewer shows when certain spellings overtook others, which is kind of neat to see visually. In most cases these map pretty well to what was changed. If the spelling didn’t switch until after 1899, it wasn’t changed in the Author’s National Edition. For example, ‘everywhere' overtook 'every where’ already in the 1840s, and it is changed in the uniform edition. However, ‘everyone’ didn’t overtake ‘every one’ until the late 1920s, so it isn’t changed in the uniform edition.
Any other types of spelling changes I should be looking out for?
Thanks.
Philip
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