I'd like to collect the Landmark titles for my children to read, enjoy, and learn from. Unfortunately, they are out of print, but I read in
mater et magistra magazine that they are being reprinted as "Sterling Point Books."
Of course I was excited, especially when I found that the titles are quite reasonably priced at a bit under $7 apiece. I got online and started looking for them, but found out that the two series are not quite the same.
For one thing, the Sterling Point books include titles not in the original Landmark series, such as
The Great Escape, the story of the famous escape of Allied prisoners from Stalag Luft III during WWII.
For another, many of the titles have lost their original illustrations. I just purchased the reprint of
Swamp Fox of the Revolution and happened to have access to the original 1959 Landmark title. Comparing the two, I found that all the original illustrations by Ernest Richardson were gone. Instead, there are a mere two illustrations in the new edition. One of them is a map, which, although clear and larger than the original, lacks the details present in the 1959 illustration. The other is a portrait of Francis Marion, the title character, which rather oddly portrays him in a cocked hat even though the very first page of the book states that he wore a battered old militia helmet.
I also discovered that at least this particular title had been edited a little. Specifically, the original text several times referred to Francis Marion's taciturn nature, comparing him with an Indian in this regard. The edited text omits the comparison. Here are a couple of examples:
(original) A small wizened man who walked with a swaying limp, he was swarthy, eagle-nosed, careless of appearance, and no more communicative than an Indian.
(new) A small wizened man who walked with a swaying limp, he was swarthy, eagle-nosed, careless of appearance, and a man of very few words.
(original) That was a long speech for a man as sparing of words as Francis Marion, beside whom an Indian was talkative.
(new) That was a long speech for a man as sparing of words as Francis Marion.
I guess this was done to remove the suggested stereotype of the Indian as a man of few words, but it still bothers me. I don't have the time to check the whole text of each book against the original; although this change is relatively unobjectionable, I have no way of knowing whether all the other changes are equally benign or if they are significantly more PC. At least the copyright information does note that this is an "updated" edition.
I'm hoping to find out more about the differences so that I can figure out whether I should hold out for the originals. If you have any additional info, please leave a comment for me here.
