Dual Title Duplicity Available to Purchase

Bibliographers and book collectors must continue to endure “Double, double toil and trouble” so long as publishers refuse to heed Lord Falkland's wise dictum:— “When it is not necessary to change, it is necessary not to change.” Some American and British publishers simply will not let well enough alone in accepting book titles. They persist in issuing books under one title on one side of the ocean and under another title on the other side of the ocean. Prospective book buyers must therefore spend considerable time verifying title entries and comparing the contents of books if they wish to avoid a duplication of an author's works. In 1940, Hodder & Stoughton of London published John Buchan's joyful recollections, Memory Hold ‐ the ‐ Door. The Houghton Mifflin Company of Boston simultaneously released the book under the title, Pilgrim's Way. It would be interesting to learn how many librarians and bibliophiles unwittingly duplicated the memoirs in the innocent belief that they were acquiring distinct narratives. Either title was appropriate, but the dual titles resulted in confusion.