Wouldn't it also be possible that Paarfi has written other works by Vlad's time, but not the Phoenix Guards and others we are familiar with? ( Perhaps a simpler but not as interesting explanation ;-) ) - Will ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Silberstein" <davids at kithrup.com> To: "Dragaera List" <dragaera at dragaera.info> Sent: Sunday, December 14, 2003 9:20 PM Subject: Paarfi, Vlad, TPG & the OED > One of the things that might be an inconsistency in the tales of > Dragaera is that Vlad (and Cawti) appear to be familiar with > Paarfi's works, despite the fact that /The Phoenix Guards/ seems > to have been published 80 or 90 years after Vlad's current time. > I belive I have found a reasonable explanation. > > A few weeks ago, I watched a cable show on CSPAN called "BookTV", > which, as it turns out, is archived on the web: > > http://www.booktv.org/history/index.asp?schedid=228&segid=4079 > > This particular reading was by Simon Winchester on the history of > the Oxford English Dictionary. I highly recommend watching it if > you have Realplayer. Mr. Winchester is a very amusing speaker, > full of snarky asides and humorous lexographic anecdotes, e.g. > (apropos Aubrey & Maturin), one of the quotes is as follows: > > RETREAT is the order in which a French fleet retires > before an enemy. As it is not properly a term of the > British Marine, any fuller account would be entirely > out of place. > -- A Dictionary of Marine Terms, Faulkener (sp?), 18th Cent > > At any rate, one of the points that Mr. Winchester made is > that the OED was not published all in one go, but rather in > parts called "fascicles" (which the OED itself defines as: > 2. A part, number, 'livraison' (of a work published by > instalments)[1]) > > (as also confirmed here: > http://dictionary.oed.com/about/history.html > ) > > So for example, Volume A-Ant was published on Jan. 1 1884, > but the entire work was not completed until 4 decades later. > > I think it not unreasonable that /The Phoenix Guards/ was > being released in fascicles, and these are what Cawti and > Vlad had read. After all, academics need to eat, and given > the leisurely pace at which this work is being researched > and written, I think it very nearly necessary to publish > the parts as they become available, only to be published > in combined book form when the work is finally finished. > > > [1] And might I note that it is vaguely worrisome when the > venerable OED has a misspelling... >