Editing Nineteenth-Century Texts

As R.J. Schoeck explained in his introduction to the first volume in this series, a group at the University of Toronto began in 1965 to plan annual conferences on editorial problems. Our first conference (October 1965), dealing with the sixteenth century, was followed by a second in November 1966, out of which the present volume has grown. Our experience of these two justifies Professor Schoeck's hopeful assessment of the value of meetings "at which scholars actively at work upon editorial tasks could come together for a free discussion of their work, learning from each other's experience, pooling their common intellectual resources, and seeking out expert opinion and counsel." Some ninety scholars attended the second conference, which featured library displays, a reception, dinner and lunch discussions, as well as the formal sessions, and we are emboldened to say that this is about the optimum number for such conferences. There were amply sufficient interests and attitudes, yet not too many for useful and frank discussion, and there was room for interested graduate students from the area. Few came away from the sessions without having learned something of immediate value and without having been prompted to further hard thought.