Enigmatic "Introductions"

The Trouble Twisters collected three stories about David Falkayn:

in "The Three-Cornered Wheel," Falkayn is an apprentice to a Master Polesotechnician of the Polesotechnic League;

in "A Sun Invisible," Falkayn is a journeyman with Solar Spice & Liquors and the Polesotechnic League factor on the planet, Garstang's;

in "The Trouble Twisters," Falkayn, now a Master Merchant of the Polesotechnic League, leads the first trade pioneer crew for Solar Spice & Liquors.

In the collection, although not in their original magazine appearances, each story is preceded by a peculiar introduction. These introductions make interesting reading but have no bearing on the content of the stories that they "introduce." The three unusual items are entitled:

A Note Of Leitmotif;
Notes Toward A Definition Of Relatedness;
Plus Ca Change, Plus C'Est La Meme Chose -

- and each is either signed by or attributed to a fictional character who makes no other appearance anywhere in the Technic History:

-Vance Hall, Commentaries on the Philosophy of Noah Arkwright;
-Noah Arkwright, An Introduction to Sophontology;
-Recorded in the diary of Urwain the Wide-Faring.

Urwain reminisces about - Noah Arkwright! (Not about David Falkayn.)

In The Technic Civilization Saga, the three items are entitled:

INTRODUCTION THE THREE-CORNERED WHEEL NOTE OF LEITMOTIF;

INTRODUCTION A SUN INVISIBLE NOTES TOWARD A DEFINITION OF RELATEDNESS;

PLUS CA CHANGE PLUS C'EST LA MEME CHOSE.

Thus, readers of the Saga are not informed that "Plus Ca Change..." is meant to introduce "The Trouble Twisters." Instead, they read this strange, short (pp. 77-80; just three pages of text) passage between the van Rijn story, "Territory," and the Falkayn/trader team story, "The Trouble Twisters."

I discussed the content of these introductions in:

Noah Arkwright
Noah Arkwright II
Noah Arkwright
Noah Arkwright III
Noah Arkwright IV

Noah Arkwright

(I saw Star Trek: Into Darkness. The future historical and time travel aspects of the story line are handled well.)

Now let's get to grips with Noah Arkwright. The Trouble Twisters by Poul Anderson is, or was, three stories about David Falkayn:

"The Three-Cornered Wheel" introduces Falkayn;

in "A Sun Invisible," Falkayn works for Nicholas van Rijn's organization;

in "The Trouble Twisters," van Rijn appoints Falkayn to lead a trader team which embarks on its first expedition.

That third story is the only occasion when we see the trader team on a routine expedition. In all four of the remaining works that feature the team, they are caught up in some extraordinary situation or emergency. Indeed, in the last work, Mirkheim, the team has long since disbanded but van Rijn reconvenes it to deal with the outbreak of a war.

The stories from The Trouble Twisters are, rightly, separated in the Baen Books Technic Civilzation Saga. Thus, the two stories about Falkayn's earlier career are in Volume I whereas the four works about the team before its disbandment are in Volume II and its reconvening by van Rijn is in Volume III.

What has any of this got to do with anyone called Noah Arkwright? - you may well ask. In The Trouble Twisters, if not also in their original magazine appearances, each of the three stories has a fictitious Introduction and fortunately the Introductions are reproduced in Baen Volumes I and II. Each of the Introductions refers in a different way to one Noah Arkwright.

The first of the Introductions is an excerpt from Vance Hall's Commentary on the Philosophy of Noah Arkwright which, however, does not mention Arkwright! Hall reminds his readers that nuclear fission, lasers, artificial gravity and the hyperjump confounded earlier predictions about the impossibility of nuclear power, ray guns, space drives and faster than light travel but nevertheless asserts that Parkinson's Laws, Sturgeon's Revelation, Murphy's Law and the Fourth Law of Thermodynamics are immutable.

We might infer, first, that Arkwright would have agreed and, secondly, that Murphy's Law at least is exemplified in the story being introduced. Otherwise, the Introduction is irrelevant. In order to learn anything further about Arkwright, however, we must study the remaining Introductions which I will do in a subsequent post.

THE TROUBLE TWISTERS: Its Place In The Technic History

 

The cover of my copy of The Trouble Twisters (New York, 1977) (see image) proclaims that this is "The second book in the future history of the Polesotechnic League." Let us imagine that, before The Trouble Twisters, we have read only the three Nicholas van Rijn stories collected as Trader To The Stars, beginning with "Hiding Place." (There are in fact ten Technic History installments set earlier than "Hiding Place" but, for many of us, our starting point with this series was Trader To The Stars.)

The Trouble Twisters contains a total of six items.

(i) A NOTE OF LEITMOTIF, pp. 7-8. 

This note serves as a general introduction to any volume set in the Technic History because it outlines both the relevant technological advances and the perennial human limitations. It is signed:

"-Vance Hall, Commentaries on the Philosophy of Noah Arkwright" (p. 8)

Who Noah Arkwright might be is not explained.

(ii) Part I THE THREE-CORNERED WHEEL, pp. 9-54.

This is the first of the three David Falkayn stories collected in this volume. They are presented not as separate items but as "Parts" of a single work recounting Falkayn's early career. In Part I, teen-aged Falkayn is apprenticed to Martin Schuster and there is no mention of Nicholas van Rijn.

(iii) NOTES TOWARD A DEFINITION OF RELATEDNESS, pp. 55-56.

These notes come more as an interlude between stories than as an introduction to the following story. However, the notes discuss the extent to which some extra-solar environments are humanly habitable and some intelligent species are mutually comprehensible and these observations are relevant to Falkayn's adventures in (iv). The notes are signed:

"-Noah Arkwright, An Intorduction to Sophontology" (p. 56)

(iv) Part II A SUN INVISIBLE, pp. 57-93.

In this second David Falkayn story, Falkayn is a Polesotechnic League factor, working for van Rijn's Solar Spice & Liquors Company. His role on Ivanhoe in (ii) has hastened his certification as a journeyman. Now he wants early Master Merchant certification and to be noticed by "...old Nick van Rijn." (p. 60)

(v) PLUS CA CHANGE, PLUS C'EST LA MEME CHOSE, pp. 95-97.

This account of an encounter with Noah Arkwright is:

"-Recorded in the diary of Urwain the Wide-Faring" (p. 97)

There is no discernible connection between Noah Arkwright and David Falkayn. I no longer think that (i), (iii) and (v), which were added in The Trouble Twisters, serve as introductions to (ii), (iv) and (vi), respectively. They are simply additional texts, adding more background to the Technic History.

(vi) Part III THE TROUBLE TWISTERS, pp. 99-190.

Falkayn is working in a team with Adzel and Chee Lan. Has he gone independent? No. A flash-back on pp. 110-112 recounts the interview in which van Rijn, still employing Falkayn, appointed him to lead the first ever trade pioneer crew. At last, van Rijn makes a brief but decisive appearance in this second Polesotechnic League volume.

After The Trouble Twisters, there are three novels, three short stories, The Earth Book Of Stormgate and the nine-volume Flandry period followed by its single-volume sequel.

Noah Arkwright II

(See previous posts on "Introductions" and "Noah Arkwright.")

The Introduction, called "A Note of Leitmotif," to the first David Falkayn story, called "The Three-Cornered Wheel," at least established that the story was set in a future society with faster than light travel so perhaps it was not as irrelevant as I suggested earlier. But we are trying to track down Noah Arkwright. This Introduction was presented as an excerpt from Commentaries on his Philosophy but otherwise did not mention him.

The Introduction, called "Notes Toward A Definition Of Relatedness," to the second Falkayn story, called "A Sun Invisible," is attributed to Arkwright's own An Introduction to Sophontology and makes interesting points but tells us nothing about its fictitious author.

The interesting points:

most planets are lethal for mankind so are passed by and not much thought about;

of those with free oxygen and liquid water, over half are nevertheless useless or lethal for different reasons;

however, in a large galaxy, random variation and natural selection produce duplications on millions of planets;

humanity has little contact with intelligent species whose psychologies and motivations are radically different;

but, among billions of planets, millions of races are similar enough for both cooperation and conflict;

on the other hand, a nonhuman being can show humanity only those aspects of himself that we can understand so he can seem to be two-dimensional.

Arkwright makes more serious points than the Vance Hall who had earlier commented on his philosophy although he does end with a joke, quoting a human prospector on the planet Quetzalcoal who trusts his nonhuman partner enough to leave him alone with his wife!

I must stop posting for a few hours but next on the agenda are:

(i) an attempt to find out more about Arkwright from the third Introduction in which he is mentioned;

(ii) a reassessment of "Sargasso of Lost Starships."

Spans, Illuminates And Completes...II

The previous post showed that The Earth Book Of Stormgate not only spanned and completed the Polesotechnic League period of Poul Anderson's History of Technic Civilization but also applied the perspective of the post-League novel, The People Of The Wind. Thus, there were:

two League collections, starring van Rijn and Falkayn respectively;

two League novels, each starring both;

one post-League novel, featuring a direct descendant of both;

the concluding League collection, including one more novel and presented from a post-League perspective.

However, the narrative was not yet complete:

one more pre-League story was written later;

two post-League stories preceded The People Of The Wind;

the History of Technic Civilization continued for many volumes after The People Of The Wind.

Fortunately, not only the six volumes and three separate stories already mentioned but also all subsequent volumes have been fully incorporated into Baen Books' The Technic Civilization Saga, seven omnibus volumes collecting the entire History in chronological order for the first time.

The eleven works collected in Vol I, The Van Rijn Method, comprise:

the one newer story;

seven of the twelve works that had been collected in The Earth Book;

two of the three works that had been collected as The Trouble Twiters;

one of the three works that had been collected as Trader To The Stars.

Further, the previously collected stories retain their fictitious introductions from the earlier collections:

seven by Hloch of the Stormgate Choth;

one by Vance Hall commenting on Noah Arkwright;

one by Noah Arkwright;

one by Le Matelot, beginning "'The world's great age begins anew...'"

The perspective expands. The Saga is like a bigger and better Earth Book.

The seven works collected in Vol II, David Falkayn: Star Trader, comprise:

the two remaining works that had been collected in Trader To The Stars;

the one remaining work that had been collected in The Trouble Twisters;

three more from The Earth Book;

the first of the two League novels, Satan's World.

The faithfully reproduced introductions are:

a passage from the first Trader story in Vol I;
Urwain the Wide-Faring's memories of Noah Arkwright;
a passage from Percy Shelley's "Hellas";
three more from Hloch.

(Who is this guy, Noah Arkwright? Don't ask.)

The six works collected in Vol III, Rise Of The Terran Empire, are:

the second League novel, Mirkheim;
the two remaining stories from The Earth Book;

the two post-League stories mentioned earlier;
The People Of The Wind.

The introductions are:

two more - plus one conclusion - by Hloch;

one from the much later perspective of Donvar Ayeghen, President of the Galactic Archaeological Society;

one by Ayeghen's contemporary, Michael Karageorge (this time scripted not by Poul Anderson but by Saga compiler, Hank Davis).

Thus, the expanded Earth Book extends from the second story in Vol I to the third story in Vol III and the History continues for another four and a half volumes
after that.

There is in addition a perspective from right outside the fictitious history because introductions by the author, where they exist, are also included. In his introduction to "The Night Face," in Vol VII, Flandry's Legacy, Anderson informs the reader that Nicholas van Rijn, David Falkayn, Christopher Holm, Dominic Flandry and other characters lived in the past of this story.

The inclusion of Holm may be a surprise. However, Christopher's/Arinnian's role is pivotal because he is a viewpoint character in The People Of The Wind and, fictitiously, one of the authors of The Earth Book Of Stormgate.

Noah Arkwright

Noah Arkwright is a commentator comparable to Le Matelot, although with more humor. Arkwright's points are:

there are so many planets that many are humanly habitable;

there are so many intelligences that many are humanly comprehensible -

- so we can bypass the rest.

Incidentally, none of the many races discovered so far is technologically superior. In fact, mankind was the first into interstellar space in its immediate spatial volume. Ythrians and Merseians get the hyperdrive from us. I have been told that technological superiority is a feature of Babylon 5: human and similar races avoid regions of the galaxy where incomprehensible technology is in regular use?

Arkwright discusses an issue that I still find fascinating: human beings getting used to doing regular business with intelligences whose bodies can be of any size or shape. Could you do it - tell your receptionist to send in a visitor whose physical description was completely unknown to you until he/she/yx appeared in your office doorway?

Arkwright quotes a prospector on Quetzalcoatal describing his partner:

"'...he looks like a cross between a cabbage and a derrick...'" (The Van Rijn Method, p. 265).

He also belches hydrogen sulfide, sleeps in mud and passes time not by playing poker but by discussing philosophy. (Well done. Far too many even of Poul Anderson's aliens have a head with two eyes above a nose above a mouth...)

Arkwright makes some further points:

most races have as many individual and cultural variations as humanity;

hence, there can be some overlap with humanity;

nevertheless, a non-human being can show us only his humanly comprehensible aspects

therefore, he can seem two-dimensional;

Arkwright mentions some stereotypes - Warrior, Philosopher, Merchant etc;

but we can seem flat to him - humanity is a subject of bawdy jokes on many planets.

These observations:

make the Polesotechnic League period seem very real;

also emphasize that it is a period in which much is still being learned. 

Introductions

The Technic Civilization Saga, Volumes I-III, inherited not only Hloch's twelve introductions and one afterword from The Earth Book of Stormgate but also six introductions from the other two earlier collections:

Trader To The Stars

"Hiding Place": Le Matelot, who quotes Shelley

"Territory": an extract from the first van Rijn story, not collected here

"The Master Key": a longer quote from the same poem by Shelley

The Trouble Twisters

"The Three-Cornered Wheel": Vance Hall, Commentaries on the Philosophy of Noah Arkwright

"A Sun Invisible": Noah Arkwright, An Introduction to Sophontology

"The Trouble Twisters": the diary of Urwain the Wide-Faring (about meeting Noah Arkwright)

The three "Arkwright" essays are not introductions but works in their own right. In any case, this shows that fictional introductions are a big part of the Technic History and not just of the Earth Book. 

Of the six remaining works in The Technic Civilization Saga, Volumes I-III:

"The Saturn Game" and "The Star Plunderer" each already came with a fictional introduction;

Satan's World, Mirkheim and The People of the Wind do not have introductions;

the Earth Book Compiler, Hank Davis, added an appropriate introduction for "Sargasso of Lost Starships."

Noah Arkwright On Sophontology

(I am having problems downloading images, hopefully only temporarily. Shortly: it was.)

Poul Anderson, "A Sun Invisible" IN Anderson, The Van Rijn Method (Riverdale, NY, 2009), pp. 263-315.

Noah Arkwright fictitiously writes the Introduction to "A Sun Invisible." The first time that I read The Trouble Twisters, I was so in favor of the idea that human beings and members of other intelligent species might travel through interstellar space and interact with each other on extra-solar planets on a regular basis that I welcomed Arkwright's knowledgeable-sounding discussion of such a scenario. See Noah Arkwright II.

It sounds like a rationalization to say, yes, most other races will be incomprehensible to us but even a small minority sufficiently like us for regular communication will be a big number so we will interact with that (large) minority and ignore all the others. That is a welcome premise for people, like me then, who like reading about spaceships and aliens but it is probably not a reliable guide to what is really out there.

Noah Arkwright

See "Territory" for discussion of the introductions in Trader To The Stars. The introductions in the following volume, The Trouble Twisters, are more whimsical.

(I) Vance Hall, commenting on the Philosophy of Noah Arkwright, points out that four discoveries:

uranium fission

lasers

artificial gravity

the quantum hyperjump

- confounded expectations. (Sf ideas are made to seem plausible by showing them as coming after already existing technologies.)

Then Hall presents humorous laws of humanity, starting with Parkinson's Laws.

(II) Noah Arwright, introducing Sophontology, presents a helpful account of inter-species interactions in Technic civilization. This is the most useful of these three introductions.

(III) Urwain the Wide-Faring presents a barely comprehensible account of his meeting with - guess who - Noah Arkwright.

The Technic History has a multitude of historians. It is not only future history but also future historiography. Hloch of the Earth Book is followed by Donvar Ayeghen of the Galactic Archaeological Society at the mid-point of the Saga, Volume III. 

 

Again On Introductions

In Poul Anderson's "Captive of the Centaurianess," Vallabhai Rasmussen introduces the Galactic Era.

In Anderson's Technic History:

Francis L. Minamoto introduces Technic civilization;

 

Hloch of Stormgate Choth introduces, presents and concludes The Earth Book Of Stormgate;

 

Le Matelot introduces the Polesotechnic League;

 

Donvar Ayeghen introduces the Imperial Age.

Some early 1950s space operas, like "The Star Plunderer," were incorporated into the Technic History, whereas others, like "Captive of the Centaurianess," were not.

The Technic History also features some lesser introductions:

Vance Hall introduces the technology of Technic civilization and the philosophy of Noah Arkwright;

Noah Arkwright introduces sophontology;

Urwain the Wide-Faring introduces Noah Arkwright.

Introductions VI

Sometimes an introductory passage is clearly the opening section of a fictitious text and would have appeared as such in the original magazine publication of a short story or of an installment of a novel. Example: the passage attributed to the fictitious Francis L Minamoto at the beginning of section I of "The Saturn Game" by Poul Anderson. Minamoto re-appears at the beginnings of sections II, III and IV so it is then clear, if it was not already, that he is an integral part of the text.

It is equally obvious that the introductions and conclusion to the stories collected as The Earth Book Of Stormgate were specifically written for that edition where they add an extra layer and perspective, including even a new character, to the fiction. I think that the Introduction to the van Rijn collection, Trader To The Stars, and the Introductions to the individual stories in the Falkayn collection, The Trouble Twisters, are in the Earth Book category, not in the "Saturn Game" category. But, in any case, Anderson presents us with an intricate network of fictitious characters commenting on his fictitious texts:

Minamoto;
Le Matelot;
Vance Hall, commenting on Noah Arkwright;
Noah Arkwright;
Urwain the Wide-Faring, reminiscing about Noah Arkwright;
Hloch of the Stormgate Choth on Avalon;
Donvar Ayeghen, President of the Galactic Archaeological Society;
(Michael Karageorge);
a Didonian composite intelligence;
a Dennitzan.

Have I missed any? (Karageorge is bracketed because he is not a creation of Anderson but a joke, albeit a welcome one, by Baen Books Editor, Hank Davis.)

With one exception, these Andersonian commentators are closely involved with the periods on which they comment. The single exception is Ayeghen who writes a long time later but who was also created by Anderson a long time before most of the History was written. This is shown by some slightly discordant elements in what he, Ayeghen, writes.

Imagine if Anderson, using Ayeghen, had written some overall commentary on the Imperial period and the Long Night similar to Hloch's commentary on the League and the Troubles.

Diverse Introductions

We do not know what is coming next as we read through The Technic Civilization Saga, Baen Books' seven volume complete edition of Poul Anderson's History of Technic Civilization, because there is no uniformity as to how the collected works are introduced or afterworded.

Each volume is introduced by the Compiler, Hank Davis, and ends with Sandra Miesel's Chronology of Technic Civilization.

Volume I
"The Saturn Game," fictional introduction by Francis L. Minamoto, dated 2057.

"Wings of Victory," fictional introduction by Hloch of Stormgate Choth.

"The Problem of Pain," Hloch.

"Margin of Profit," Hloch.

"How To Be Ethnic In One Easy Lesson," Hloch.

"The Three-Cornered Wheel," fictional introduction by Vance Hall, commenting on Noah Arkwright.

"A Sun Invisible," fictional introduction by Noah Arkwright.

"The Season Of Forgiveness," Hloch.

The Man Who Counts, Hloch - plus a real world afterword, originally an introduction, by Poul Anderson.

"Esua," Hloch.

"Hiding Place," fictional introduction by Le Matelot.

Volume II
"Territory," an extract from "Margin of Profit."

"The Trouble Twisters," fictional introduction by Urwain the Wide-Fairing, reminiscing about Noah Arkwright.

"Day of Burning," Hloch.

"The Master Key," six lines from "Hellas" by Percy Shelley.

Satan's World, no introduction - we pass directly from the end of "The Master Key" to the beginning of this novel.

"A Little Knowledge," Hloch.

"Lodestar," Hloch, and an Afterword by Poul Anderson.

Volume III
Mirkheim, no introduction, although there is a multi-part Prologue.

"Wingless," Hloch.

"Rescue on Avalon," Hloch, both introduction and afterword.

"The Star Plunderer," fictional introduction by Donvar Ayeghen.

"Sargasso of Lost Starships," fictional introduction by Michael Karageorge (real author, not Poul Anderson but Hank Davis.)

The People Of The Wind, no introduction.

Volume IV
Ensign Flandry, excerpts from a Pilot's Manual and Ephemeris.

A Circus Of Hells, no introduction.

The Rebel Worlds, introduction and afterword from a tripartite Didonian perspective.

Volumes V-VI
No introductions.

Volume VII
A Stone In Heaven, no introduction.

The Game Of Empire, a real world introduction by Poul Anderson.

"A Tragedy of Errors," a short italicized introduction and afterword about Christopher Wren.

The Night Face, a real world introduction by Poul Anderson.

"Starfog," no introduction.

In fact, very un-uniform.

Introductions II

There are perhaps ten introductions to various aspects of Technic civilization, seven in Volume I and three in Volume II of The Technic Civilization Saga.

In "The Saturn Game":

(I), (II) the first two of four passages signed by Francis L. Minamoto, dated 2057.

In The Earth Book Of Stormgate:

(III) the editor, Hloch's, general introduction;

(IV) his introduction to the second story, "The Problem of Pain."

In The Trouble Twisters:

(V) an extract from Vance Hall, Commentaries on the Philosophy of Noah Arkwright, used to introduce "The Three-Cornered Wheel";

(VI) an extract from Noah Arkwright, An Introduction to Sophontology, used to introduce "A Sun Invisible";

(VII) a recording of Noah Arkwright included in the diary of Urwain the Wide-Faring and used to introduce "The Trouble Twisters."

In Trader To The Stars:

(VIII) Le Matelot;

(IX) an extract from "Margin of Profit" used to introduce "Territory";

(X) a verse by Shelley used to introduce "The Master Key."

We will say something about each of these passages.

Noah Arkwright III

The Introduction, called "Plus Ca Change, Plus C'Est La Meme Chose," to the third David Falkayn story, which is also the first trader team story, called "The Trouble Twisters," is the longest of these Introductions yet, two and a half pages, and is a condensed short story in its own right.

It is recorded in the audio-diary of Urwain the Wide-Faring. One correspondent has commented that that name sounds Merseian. However, the Merseians were not in space yet, Urwain does not speak like a gatortail and, in fact, refers to himself as human:

"I wouldn't admit the truth of this to another human." (The Trouble Twisters, New York, 1977, p. 96)

"...here I am, with a whole star cluster named after me, and there's not a fellow human being in the universe I can tell why!" (ibid., p. 97)

Thus, later stories in the Technic History could have referred to an Urwain star cluster.

Urwain is recording his own voice while being interviewed by someone else who is also recording. Urwain admits to having been swindled by Arkwright but explains it by the latter's persuasive tone and plays a tape of Arkwright's voice to prove it. Arkwright comments on the Polesotechnic League period so here at last is the relevance of the Introduction to the story being introduced. He doubts whether the period is "...some kind of neo-Elizabethan age...," although the mere mention of that historical period means that the reader does instantly make the comparison. (p. 96)

Arkwright questions whether the life of a merchant adventurer is as varied as imagined. New planets and their inhabitants, rivals, women and the problem of making a profit: how different can they be? I would have thought that they could vary a lot but Arkwright speaks from experience.

Thus, we know of Arkwright that:

Vance Hall wrote a commentary on his philosophy;

he himself wrote knowledgeably about sophontology;

he pretended to be able to detect mineral deposits from orbit, then used investment money to fund an expedition outside known space, leaving Urwain mining rhenium on Despair and, somehow, having a star cluster named after him - Urwain is not always clear about how these events tie together.

Introductions II

Of the eleven works collected in The Technic Civilization Saga, Volume I, The Van Rijn Method, by Poul Anderson (New York, 2009):

one is introduced by an extract from Francis L Minamoto's contribution to a report for Apollo University, Luna, in 2057;

seven are introduced by Hloch of the Stormgate Choth in his Earthbook Of Stormgate;

one is introduced by an extract from Vance Hall's Commentaries on the Philosophy of Noah Arkwright;

one is introduced by an extract from Noah Arkwright's An Introduction to Sophontology;

one is introduced by (an extract from?) "Le Matelot."

Thus, there is a very elaborate background universe that we can miss if we heed only the contents of the individual stories. In a much earlier post, I listed the several sources referenced by Hloch throughout his Earth Book. Hloch and Arkwright become characters in their own rights.

Noah Arkwright IV

I should have thought of this before. Is Noah Arkwright's name symbolic? Did he want to fund an expedition outside known space because he had intuited or received a warning about what would soon happen to the Solar Commonwealth and the Polesotechnic League?

Look what does happen. In the very next story, the League helps the Merseians to survive radiation from a nearby nova. Terrans will later have reason to regret the existence of Merseia. Two stories later, another race threatens the Commonwealth and the League. Then piracy starts within the League. Then Falkayn's trader team barely escapes from a native uprising against exploitation by a League company. Next, inequalities between planets become so intense that Falkayn breaks his oath of fealty to van Rijn in order to help the poorer species that are being left out by interstellar civilization.

Finally, the Commonwealth is challenged by yet another coming race and the League is split by civil war... Van Rijn and Falkayn know that this is the beginning of the end and start to make other plans for their futures. Is Noah Ark-wright's name a warning of these troubles to come?

Introductions III

Of the seven works listed in The Technic Civilization Saga, Volume II, David Falkayn: Star Trader by Poul Anderson (New York, 2010):

one is introduced by an extract from "Margin of Profit," collected in Volume I;

one is introduced by an extract from the diary of Urwain the Wide-Faring, recounting his meeting with Noah Arkwright;

three are introduced by Hloch of the Stormgate Choth in his Earth Book Of Stormgate;

one is introduced by a quotation from Shelley;

one is not introduced.

Thus, the net widens:

Hloch and Arkwright persist, although each appearance by Arkwright has been different;
two real literary quotations, from an Anderson short story and a Shelley poem, are used;
for the first time, one work is not introduced.

Urwain's introduction is effectively a separate story about Arkwright and I am not sure how it connects with the story that it introduces. I am going to have to look at the three Arkwright-related introductions in more detail.

Three Kinds Of Introductions

There are at least three kinds of introductions.

(i) The author, directly addressing his readers, discusses the text. Such an introduction is clearly not part of the work in question and may be added in later editions. Thus, in The Technic Civilization Saga, Poul Anderson introduces The Game Of Empire and The Night Face and his original foreword to "Lodestar" is re-presented as an afterword.

(ii) The opening passage of the text is a fictional introduction. Thus, Donvar Ayeghen fictitiously introduces Anderson's "The Star Plunderer."

(iii) Newly written fictional introductions precede the texts in later collections, e.g., in Anderson's The Trouble Twisters and The Earth Book Of Stormgate. Thus, we read introductions fictitiously written by:

Vance Hall, an extract from his Commentaries on the Philosophy of Noah Arkwright;

 Noah Arkwright, an extract from his An Introduction to Sophontology;

Urwain the Wide-Faring, an extract from his diary;

Hloch of Stormgate Choth.

And all this is faithfully reproduced in The Technic Civilization Saga.

Inter-Species Humour

ERB's green Martians laugh at the sight of blood, battle injuries or war wounds. John Carter learns not to laugh in circumstances where it might be misunderstood.

Noah Arkwright's introduction to "A Sun Invisible" says that human beings are the butt of bawdy jokes elsewhere in the galaxy. (I think that Noah Arkwright says this. I do not have the relevant volume to hand.)

Merseian humour can be gusty, cruel or incomprehensible - so maybe like green Martian?

"[Flandry] had in his turn baffled various [Merseians] when he visited their planet; even after he put a joke into their equivalents, they did not see why it should be funny that one diner said, "Bon appetit" and the other said, "Ginsberg."

-A Circus of Hells, CHAPTER ELEVEN, p. 271.

I must be a Merseian.

 

Human Aliens

Terran characters discuss the difficulty of spying within an alien society. Their agents can penetrate the human population of Avalon but cannot learn anything that is not already public knowledge. Human Avalonians no longer think, talk or even walk like Imperials and imitating them is unfeasible.
-copied from here.

Karlsarm, a Freehold outbacker, experiences the same problem from the other side:

"Sometimes he thought that humans from the inner Empire were harder to fathom than most nonhumans. Being of the same species, talking much the same language, they ought to react in the same ways as your own people. And they didn't. Their very facial expressions, a frown, a smile, were subtly foreign.
"Ridenour, for immediate example, was courteous, genial, even helpful: but entirely on the surface. He showed nothing of his real self."
-Poul Anderson, "Outpost of Empire" IN Anderson, Captain Flandry: Defender Of The Terran Empire (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 1-72 AT p. 37.

But even on one planet, Earth, human beings differ so much that they might be members of different species. Noah Arkwright elegantly argues that other intelligent species are so alien that they cannot show us their inner selves. See also Noah Arkwright II.