[Vwoolf] A minor textual mystery in To the Lighthouse

[Edward Mendelson]

Replying to myself: I think the answer to this mystery may be suggested 
by the headnote to the list of variants in the 1990 Hogarth edition, 
which says that "Thanks are due to [X and Y] whose concordance to To the 
Lighthouse (Oxford, 1983) has been of invaluable assistance in compiling 
this list." I noticed another error in the list, which says that the 
American first edition lacks a section number for the first section in 
the third part of the book - although the section number is very clearly 
present. It seems at least possible that the errors in the list of 
variants may derive from errors in that 1983 Concordance, which I 
haven't seen because my university library doesn't own it; it was 
published in microfiche only.

In any event, the list of American-British variants in the Hogarth 
"definitive edition" of To the Lighthouse is clearly unreliable.

And thanks also to the list member who privately confirmed that reading 
"Woulf" is not in the second UK printing either.

> The 1990 Hogarth Press edition of To the Lighthouse (in the "Definitive
> Collected Edition") has a list of variants between the first American
> and first British editions. One of the variants occurs in part I,
> section 18, in the last sentence of the paragraph that begins "Now, she
> whispered, crossing over to his bed". According to the list of variants,
> the first British edition has "Woulf they go" and the American edition
> has "Would they go" - and the British variant is preceded by an
> asterisk, indicating that the Hogarth edition uses the American variant.
>
> But I can't find any edition that has "Woulf they go": the first, third,
> and fourth British impressions don't have it; a 1977 impression that I
> found on my shelf doesn't have it. Where on earth did the anonymous
> editor of the 1990 Hogarth edition find this?
>
> Any enlightenment will be gratefully received.
>
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