Thursday 26 September 2019

In The Beginnings: Complicated Publishing Histories

The first published volume of Poul Anderson's main future history series, the History of Technic Civilization, was Trader To The Stars, three stories about Nicholas van Rijn of the Polesotechnic League, beginning with "Hiding Place."

The Earth Book Of Stormgate, which "spans, illuminates and completes" the Polesotechnic League period of the Technic History, begins with "Wings of Victory," about first contact with Ythri.

The Technic Civilization Saga, Volume I, The Van Rijn Method, compiled by Hank Davis, begins with "The Saturn Game," which is chronologically the earliest Technic History story.

However, the first Nicholas van Rijn story is "Margin of Profit" which:

is quoted at the beginning of the second story in Trader To The Stars, "Territory";

had to be rewritten to eliminate discrepancies with the Technic History before it could be collected;

is collected both in The Earth Book Of Stormgate (twelve stories) and in The Van Rijn Method (eleven stories), these two collections overlapping by seven stories, with "Hiding Place" republished right at the end of The Van Rijn Method.

Poul Anderson's Time Patrol collection has grown and been re-entitled:

Guardians Of Time (4 stories);
The Guardians Of Time (5);
Annals Of The Time Patrol (7);
The Time Patrol (9);
Time Patrol (10).

The companion volume of the collection is the long novel, The Shield Of Time. I have argued previously on this blog that the tenth story in Time Patrol should be published at the end of The Shield Of Time and that some changes need to be made to the order of the remaining nine stories.

4 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Just a correction, the first Technic story to be published as a BOOK, if you don't mind paperbacks, was WE CLAIM THESE STARS, in 1959, by Ace Books. I have a copy myself!

Ad astra! Sean

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I forgot to add that the most interesting thing about THE GUARDIANS OF TIME for me was its inclusion of Sandra Meisel's commentary on the first five Time Patrol stories: "Of Time and the Rover."

Ad astra! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,
OK. TRADER TO THE STARS was the first collection.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

And the SECOND Technic book to be printed was EARTHMAN, GO HOME. Better known as THE PLAGUE OF MASTERS. And pub. by Ace Books in 1960.

Ad astra! Sean