Collections Beyond Collections

Coincidentally, the pre-Flandry period of Poul Anderson's History of Technic Civilization comprised:

three collections
Trader To The Stars
The Trouble Twisters
The Earth Book Of Stormgate, including the novel The Man Who Counts which been published separately but with changed text and title

three other separately published novels
Satan's World
Mirkheim
The People Of The Wind

three uncollected short stories
"The Saturn Game"
"The Star Plunderer"
"Sargasso of Lost Starships"

- and is collected in:

three omnibus volumes from Baen Books
The Van Rijn Method
David Falkayn: Star Trader
Rise Of The Terran Empire

So remember 4x3 as the pre-Flandry formula: three collections; three novels; three short stories; three omnibus volumes.

In the Baen Technic Civilization Saga, the pre-Flandry period is twenty four works of fiction in three volumes whereas the Flandry and after period is nineteen works in four volumes. There are more novels in the latter. Depending on what length counts as a novel, I suggest that the number is eight. 

Although the Baen volumes present the stories and novels in chronological order of fictitious events, thus sometimes separating stories that were together in the earlier collections, they preserve the fictitious Introductions from the Earthbook so nihil interit, nothing is lost.

20/5/13: Trader To The Stars and The Trouble Twisters have three stories each and the Earth Book has twelve (4x3), including the novel, so the theme of threes continues into the fine structure of the pre-Flandry period.