Books As Artifacts

When I appreciate a Poul Anderson short story or novel, I refer to the content of a text, not to any particular manifestation of it. Thus, it does not matter if you and I read different editions or even if you read it in Braille or hear it on audio. (A few texts have an earlier and a later version but we make it clear which version we mean.)

A couple of times on the blog, e.g., here, I have instead discussed the physical artifact of a book, its cover, blurb, introductory pages, pagination etc. Here, it does matter which edition we read, particularly in the case of earlier works that have been republished several times with different covers. Multiple alternative covers are helpful for illustrating posts.

Once recently, here, I discussed two copies of the same edition of a novel. Originally identical, the two copies have acquired very noticeable physical differences caused by age and use. This is not evident when I quote from the novel but it is worthwhile to remember that the text is encountered only in one physical version or another - and can become rare and valuable with the mere passage of time.