Blocks to combining that affects large numbers of copies (Sorry, too much love!) #3

To Get Works Combined Anyway

Post a request to this thread. Please be sure to include links to each work you want combined.

For example:

Please combine these two works:
http://www.librarything.com/work/5061284
http://www.librarything.com/work/11847113

If it's not obvious that the two works are the same (different title/authors/etc.), it may be helpful if you jot down a few sentences to explain that. But please be sure they really do need to be combined. Keep in mind that different editions with significant textual changes (a original publication versus a later "uncut" version) are treated as different books. Minor changes (like a later version containing a new forward, a new edition with/without illustrations, etc.) do generally belong together in the same work, as do different versions of the same work in different languages.

For help combining works that would affect fewer than 200 copies, please post to the current "Combining/Separating (Please Fix This Book!) Request Thread". This thread can be found in the Combiners! group (a new thread is created each month to prevent it from becoming cumbersome).

The Problem

You cannot easily combine two works if BOTH works contain a large number of copies (currently the limit is 200 copies). For example, if you try to combine The Dark Tower (having over 6,000 copies) with The Dark Tower Boxed Set (Books 1-4) (having over 500 copies) you will receive this error:

Sorry, too much love! Because of a number of massive over-combinations (eg., every book by C. S. Lewis combined into one) combinations that change more than 200 books have been disabled, except for LibraryThing staff, until we work out some rules.

See the WikiThing page, http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/Combination_Blocking, for more information.

You were attempting to combine the works: 5974, 49836

In this case, this error prevents you from combining two works that really should not be combined. However, sometimes it does prevent legitimate combinations. Though the message says only LibraryThing staff may combine these books, that's not entirely true. There are ways to finagle it to combine them, but because of the possibility of harm they aren't really broadcast (but if you know enough to ask...)

As such, the previous thread on this topic ended with LibraryThing members volunteering to combine these "too much love" works for other users.

Combining the appropriately named From Hell.

https://www.librarything.com/work/5779 (513)
https://www.librarything.com/work/23963478 (1,382)
https://www.librarything.com/work/23963479 (901)

These are each for the graphic novel by Alan Moore, not the movie, not single issues, etc.. I'm curious how something like this happened. It's not a glitch or anything?

Edit: And another one titled "From Hell - New Cover Edition"!
https://www.librarything.com/work/23963480 (312)

Likely started by wrong combinations separated out but not recombined. Since there are several works that are similarly titled as far as the colon, wrong combinations can be expected.

>2 guyalice: Done.

Please combine:
https://www.librarything.com/work/11137873
https://www.librarything.com/work/12268817

>4 r.orrison: Many thanks!

Please combine these three works:
https://www.librarything.com/work/24121411 (353 copies)
https://www.librarything.com/work/24121419 (287 copies)
https://www.librarything.com/work/24121421 (427 copies)

The first is T.H. White’s The Once and Future King (vols. 1-5, the “complete” edition, “including The Book of Merlyn,” etc.).

The second and third are both single ISBNs (0006483011), a fat U.K. Voyager paperback from the 1990s that absolutely definitely includes all five volumes. I separated them from the vols. 1-4 work, but can’t combine them with the vols. 1-5 work because the copy number is >200 jasbro:.

Thank you!

Please combine these two:
https://www.librarything.com/work/24042429
https://www.librarything.com/work/59869

Evidence: https://bs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pet_prijatelja
https://translate.google.com/?q=5+prijatelja+na+logorovanju+#view=home&op=tr...

I'll clean up the series information after.

>8 Aquila: Something is not working right with the 0 copy work. But the problem is not what this topic was set up to deal with.

Sorry, I worked out what I was doing wrong. Thanks.

https://www.librarything.com/work/23750134
https://www.librarything.com/work/23750131
https://www.librarything.com/work/66542

Thanks in advance!

https://www.librarything.com/work/29530
https://www.librarything.com/work/24181289
https://www.librarything.com/work/24181292

I separated out too much when trying to clean up The Upanishads. These works actually appear to be the same.

>11 leselotte:, >12 aspirit: Done.

>13 jasbro: thank you!

Please combine these to works:

https://www.librarything.com/work/1586826
https://www.librarything.com/work/11077260

I believe the second one is just a BBC audiobook of the first.

>15 SGilbreath: Confirming that Amazon says unabridged.

>15 SGilbreath: The second Work you list is a radio dramatization of Lewis' original novel. As such, I think they're different Works and wouldn't combine them. Did I miss something?

>17 jasbro: Yes, the disambiguation notice on the second work says that its a dramatization. It looks like there might be some audiobooks mixed in there that should be separated out though since one of the tags on the work is audiobook.

>18 jjwilson61: Your point's well taken. I reviewed that Editions page yesterday and did some clean-up then. In the end, and still today, each Title or ISBN included on the Editions page leads me, one way or another, to that edition being specifically described as dramatization. Interesting (to me at least), most if not all are also described as audiobooks, which I may need to factor in my prior understanding of that term. There are already a dozen or so editions of The Magician's Nephew listed as audio, audiobooks or CDs; about a half dozen additional audiobooks (including abridged) and dramatizations; and I haven't yet ventured very far (again) into other volumes, collections, or materials related to the Series. If someone sees something that we should clearly separate and recombine elsewhere, I'm glad to help; but I've taken it about as far as I can for now. I appreciate everyone's input and help.

My copy of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe

http://www.librarything.com/work/22754350/book/80731981

has 215 copies, and needs to be combined with

http://www.librarything.com/work/1182675

You were attempting to combine the works:Array, 22754350, 1182675

Thank you.

That edition has 48 pages, so would seem to be abridged. Are you sure you have the right ISBN?

>21 MarthaJeanne: you are absolutely right, it is an abridged volume. I must have added it based upon the cover, when I first joined LT and didn't know better.

Never mind, and thank you.

There's a large-number-of-copies entry for Malcolm Gladwell's "David and Goliath":
https://www.librarything.com/work/24496509
...that should be merged in with the main work:
https://www.librarything.com/work/13616057

Could somebody handle these?

>23 scott_beeler:
Done.

So far as I can see, worth combining:

http://www.librarything.com/work/24275511
http://www.librarything.com/work/12084

>25 Waldstein: Done.

Please combine:

https://www.librarything.com/work/23217293
https://www.librarything.com/work/19972

>27 Shortride: Done.

Does anyone feel like working on Riddley Walker? There are currently four works and I don't know which ones belong together. Evidently (judging by one of the disambiguation notices) someone started separating out the expanded edition from the original edition and ran into the "too much love" issue.

https://www.librarything.com/work/44537
https://www.librarything.com/work/24971779
https://www.librarything.com/work/24971883
https://www.librarything.com/work/24971784

For what it's worth, I'm not entirely convinced that the additional material in the expanded edition justifies separation. According to this page, it amounts to a total of less than 40 pages, consisting of a new afterword, some working notes, a couple of pictures, and a glossary. I don't think there were any substantial changes to the text of the novel itself.

>29 spiphany: In deference to the apparent effort to distinguish the Riddley Walker {expanded edition}, I've combined those but left the base Riddley Walker work separate, at least for now. We can decide whether to combine it at a later date. Even so, a quick glance at covers for the base work suggests that further separations and recombinations may also be in order to preserve a distinction between the original and expanded editions. If it's not done by the time I circle back to the work, I'll likely take a crack at it again then.

I think the following works need to be combined:

https://www.librarything.com/work/17267504 (4,574 copies)
https://www.librarything.com/work/23409259 (3,180 copies)

To me, they appear to be same title. Added to this confusion is that the 1st item is listed on the Harry Potter series page (which shows that I don't own the title) and the 2nd one is my collection.

(And for the record, I created a new topic for this request in the Group before I realized this topic existed. So I deleted my post in the topic -- even though it might likely still show up -- and reposted the request here. Sorry for the confusion.)

>31 libraryman_76021: >32 Collectorator: All of ISBN 1338099132 are now at https://www.librarything.com/work/23409259/editions, but (without investigating) I'm unsure why they should be separate. Please advise, and maybe add disambiguation to explain. Thank you.

ETA: For reference, there are 105 additional occurrences of "Special Rehearsal" editions at https://www.librarything.com/work/17267504/editions, most having ISBN 0751565350. Should they be separated and recombined with ISBN 1338099132?

>33 jasbro: According to Wikipedia, the Special Rehearsal Edition is the script used in preview shows and the Definitive Collector's Edition includes later revisions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_and_the_Cursed_Child#Editions

>34 amanda4242: Thanks for the insight. I need to check which one we have. More to the point, I'm still unsure how to specifically distinguish among editions (except by ISBN 1338099132) for potential separation and recombining.

https://www.librarything.com/work/2236
https://www.librarything.com/work/23895078

Thanks in advance!

>36 leselotte: Done.

>37 jasbro: Thank you!

Also:
https://www.librarything.com/work/23910358
https://www.librarything.com/work/4307

Again, thanks in advance :)

>38 leselotte: leselotte: Done.

>39 henkl: Thank you!

https://www.librarything.com/work/5608
https://www.librarything.com/work/24148482

Thanks in advance!

>40 leselotte: Done.

I found two entries for A Room With A View on the author page, with no disambiguation notice on either.

http://www.librarything.com/work/20174
and
http://www.librarything.com/work/24065246

It gives me the "too much love" message when I try to combine.

I don't know the secret password.

>42 2wonderY: Done.

Please combine:
http://www.librarything.com/work/13056611
http://www.librarything.com/work/18955421
http://www.librarything.com/work/13056611/book/185326141

>44 scholler: Done, with pleasure. Your third link above is a specific book record from among those already combined as the larger work/13056611 per your first link. Your second link is a one-copy work record that was easily combined with the larger work through the workbench. If you have any questions about the process or need further help, please let us know - either contact me directly or the Combiners! through this thread.

Hi, I think these got somehow separated:

https://www.librarything.com/work/17267504/book/133691788

https://www.librarything.com/work/23409259

>46 Daisy_zn: Thank you! Can you now add disambiguation notices, series and work relationships, and maybe canonical title {notes} to help us maintain appropriate distinctions between them? Otherwise, they're liable t get recombined again - maybe even as I type this reply.

https://www.librarything.com/work/16138268
https://www.librarything.com/work/34212

Added bibliography and referencing system are not enough material to justify keeping these entries separate, and keeping them separate because both are distinguished translations into English pretty much excludes translations into all other languages.

>48 leselotte: I agree. Both works include various editions and translations already. There are also several smaller works that also need to be combined in.

Quoting quokka70 from another thread:

"I need help to combine these two:

https://www.librarything.com/work/25125635 (542 copies)
https://www.librarything.com/work/25125556 (329 copies)

They correspond to the ISBNs 0140440836 and 014017897X. They are they Penguin edition of Cohen's translation of 27 essays. The second ISBN is the revised edition of 1993."

Seems like these are the same work to me, and I don't see a disambiguation notice, am I missing something?
https://www.librarything.com/work/23409259
https://www.librarything.com/work/17267504

>51 al.vick: See http://www.librarything.com/topic/313648#7199037 above. I'm not familiar with specific difference(s) between the editions, but it seems more than one LT member considered they should be separate.

>52 jasbro: Both these works are mainly the special rehearsal edition. If there are copies of the Collector's edition they would need to be separated out.

If there is a difference between these versions, then it seems to me there should be a disambiguation notice or something. There is no way for me to be able to tell which one I have. I guess the title is different, I still don't know which one I have... Though it seems like the same thing to me...Which one should be on the Harry Potter series page? Both?

I see the wikipedia entry on the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child scripts, but it is not clear from that entry what the difference is between the versions, or how to tell which one you have, or which version each edition catalog by LibraryThing members is which. Is there a reference somewhere on the web explaining which ISBNs go with which version, and what the differences are? I would be in favor of combining the two "editions" unless this can be explained.

This work: https://www.librarything.com/work/23409259 seems to be only one ISBN number, but it looks like there were other ISBNs published in 2016. Aren't those also the early edition? How do we really know which editions are which? wikipedia says that the definitive collector's edition was not published until July 25 2017. So how many ISBNs are the early edition and how many are the later definitive edition? I just feel like this is a poor attempt to separate the two editions, and I would like a clear explanation of how to determine the versions of the book. I will shut up now and let people respond.

Sorry for the continued posting.

>56 al.vick: I don't disagree. I helped separate the editions per requests in posts 31 through 47 above. Having done it now, I'm reluctant to undo the separation if there's a reason to maintain a distinction. I'm not personally aware of the difference(s); perhaps libraryman_76021, Collectorator, amanda4242, or Daisy_zn can provide guidance.

The following three items seem to be the same abridged edition of Tocqueville by Richard Heffner:

https://www.librarything.com/work/13565214
https://www.librarything.com/work/13586151
https://www.librarything.com/work/2687765

>58 NinieB: Done.

Looks like there are two items for Animal Farm:

https://www.librarything.com/work/1477
https://www.librarything.com/work/25053785

I did a little cleanup on a box set and a video recording which got into the second one, so I think it's safe to combine now.

>60 hipdeep: Done.

Please combine:
https://www.librarything.com/work/8520
and
https://www.librarything.com/work/25194386

I understand the reason we can't combine works like this, but if people can still separate them then it seems a bit of a problem...

>62 stilton: That's why we're here! Done ... and thanks for your help.

Please combine these two editions of 1984:

https://www.librarything.com/work/1472
https://www.librarything.com/work/25386779

Thanks!

Two editions of Heidi:

https://www.librarything.com/work/24121770
https://www.librarything.com/work/4875

Two editions of Treasure Island:

https://www.librarything.com/work/25195081/editions
https://www.librarything.com/work/1812

The issue that arose on the other thread is whether you can combine editions where there appear to be some mis-attributed abridgements in an unsplittable edition. The conversation appeared to peter out, but I think it's important to continue discussion: random uncombined 1000-member editions of popular books is significant.

>64 indeedox: Done.

>65 gabriel: I can't vouch for these combinations. On Heidi, we have two copies, one aligned with each work record. As I recall, they have different content. I thought we were working toward distinctions, but that's all apparently been undone. Likewise, on Treasure Island, again as I recall, our 1963 Grosset & Dunlap edition illustrated by Gerald McCann is a juvenile edition, and may well be abridged or adapted. If someone else knows better, I defer, at least for now.

>65 gabriel: On Treasure Island, I have a copy in the second listed link, and it is listed as unabridged, and that work is the "main work". There is not really any information on the edition in the first link. I would probably be in favor of combining them, but no information means different things to different people.

The same could be said about not much information on the single edition of Heidi. Hard to know if that is an abridgment or adaptation.

>66 jasbro:
>67 al.vick:

So, to summarise the earlier discussion:

Jasbro pointed out that single-edition works almost certainly contain some copies of adaptations or abridgements. Because both are single editions, there's no way of removing those copies. But it's equally clear that the vast majority of the copies are the original, un-abridged work for three reasons: the covers, and especially the popular covers, are almost entirely identifiable as unabridged editions; users and sources are more likely to add distinguishing information to an adaptation or abridgement than the original work; and lastly, in any event the vast majority of all copies of both Treasure Island and Heidi are the unexpurgated work.

There will be some copies that end up in the wrong place whether we combine them or not. But the status quo means that far, far, more copies will be in the wrong work.

I think failing to combine them makes the perfect the enemy of the good - we can't get perfect data, but we can do the best with what we have.

Finally, if our policy is that we will only combine when the edition data proves all copies are of a particular work, we'd have to separate out dozens of editions that don't contain an ISBN or other distinguishing information - and this is the case for probably hundreds of works across LT that have abridgements or adaptations.

>67 al.vick:, >68 gabriel: Certain publishers and certain editions are known for adapting or abridging classic works for a younger audience. Given how and when I came by our copies of Heidi, Treasure Island, Gulliver’s Travels, and others, I expect a number of our “classics” are such adapted and abridged versions. I can’t say that I’ve cleaned up and edited each of them across the board (that’ll take a while), but - where I’ve done so - it was with an eye toward distinguishing adaptations or abridgments for the original, full texts, every bit as much as we distinguish between parts and whole works (e.g., Lord of the Rings). Where other LT members have taken it upon themselves to combine previously distinguished works, that effort is completely lost.

Maybe it was a fool’s game to begin with, but I’m wondering now whether our goal is to have fewer works overall, or to acknowledge variants and differences based on content. If we’re going to start now combining adaptations and abridgments with their related complete works, we need somebody to make that as policy decision and set out some clear parameters. No doubt I’ll fall in line regardless. I just need to know which way we’re headed and how we plan to get there; then I can work with a new set of limitations and different expectations.

Please just let me know …

>69 jasbro:

Jasbro, I'm entirely on board with distinguishing between variants - I do so fairly often. The issue here isn't whether to separate variants, but whether an edition that's overwhelmingly copies of the complete work should be combined with the complete work.

>70 gabriel:

I guess it's a choice between one or two wrongs: unidentifiable abridgments merged into the main work, or unidentified abridgments merged into the main work and the main work split in two.

Ray Bradbury's A Medicine for Melancholy exists in two forms:

https://www.librarything.com/work/113472
https://www.librarything.com/work/258493

They have the same contents and even share some covers. As far as I can tell, the only difference is some editions have "And Other Stories" appended to the title. Might be due to some wonky Amazon data, not sure.

Two works for 'The Three Musketeers', both appearing to be full unabridged versions:
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas 1,576 copies https://www.librarything.com/work/25359003
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas 15,623 copies https://www.librarything.com/work/3745066

>72 DemetriosX: Disambiguation notices on each work suggest they're intentionally and properly separated. Apart from individual records that may need separation and recombining, I wouldn't combine the works without being extremely sure that their distinction based on content is just wrong.

>73 Opteryx: Done.

>74 jasbro: Yes, the two Bradbury collections have substantially different groups of stories. The original version is from 1959 (with later reprintings) and is this:
http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?874

The "...and Other Stories" version is from 1998 (with later reprintings) and has about 10 more stories (mostly from "S is for Space").
http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?876

I've been cleaning up Bradbury some this week, but I didn't do this; the distinction between these two collections has been there for a while and is well documented in the Disambiguation Notices and other Common Knowledge.

Some of the covers attached to the two LibraryThing works might be incorrect from some previous combinations and separations. I believe all the entries are properly sorted though, going by title and ISBN.

Speaking of Bradbury, there is a 225-copy loose work for "The Martian Chronicles" which should be merged into the main entry.
https://www.librarything.com/work/24665999
https://www.librarything.com/work/31712

The same ISBN and "Grand Master Editions" descriptor are all throughout the main work; in fact the largest entry in it is this edition. So it's clearly the same work.

>76 scott_beeler: Done.

Both of these are the second edition of Octavia Butler's Bloodchild and Other Stories.

https://www.librarything.com/work/16235325
https://www.librarything.com/work/25753477

>74 jasbro:

The combined version of the Three Musketeers has a number of covers that are identifiable as abridgements. I think this indicates that enforcing a "don't combine" policy is unworkable.

The default has always been to have undifferentiated editions with the main work. It is only ~15 years into LT's existence that we are having this discussion.

>79 gabriel: Respectfully, I and other LT members have been unworkably separating undifferentiated editions into discrete works combinations of their own, and distributing differentiated editions among related editions based on discernible content. But I’ve only been at it for twelve years now, apparently having clearly missed the point of the first, most formative and definitive, 36 months. I defer.

>80 jasbro:

I honestly think we're talking past each other. I absolutely want to separate editions that are discernibly different (abridgements, children's versions, etc) into separate works, and I've done a fair bit of it.

I'm not sure I understand what you're saying you and others have been doing and how it differs from what I'm suggesting.

>81 gabriel: They're saying that they think that undifferentiated editions, those with no way to tell for sure which edition they belong to should be kept separate.

This work https://www.librarything.com/work/25195585 consists of one particular edition of Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" (ISBN 0684801221) with over 7600 copies.

As far as I can tell it isn't distinct in content (not an abriged or annotated edition, etc.) from the main work: https://www.librarything.com/work/4933

>83 spiphany: Done.

>82 jjwilson61:

And that's been the approach, if not a policy, for the last twelve years? If so, I apologize to jasbro. I had searched to try and find a discussion of the issue and hadn't found one, but perhaps I missed it, or perhaps that's just been what's been happening without any discussion.

At any rate, whether this is an old practice or a new phenomenon, I think we need a policy and a broader discussion to facilitate it. I had hoped to create a bit of a dialogue here, but it doesn't seem that we've made much progress. I may make a dedicated thread to address the topic when I have time.

>85 gabriel: Yes, please do make a separate thread for discussion.

And back to the purpose of this thread, can someone please combine the works in >78 amanda4242:?

>86 amanda4242: At one time, we had distinguished three Octavia Butler anthologies that share the title Bloodchild and Other Stories: the original five stories and two essays (1995), an expanded edition of seven stories and two essays (the "second"; 2005), and a further expanded ebook edition of seven stories, two essays, and an illustrated biography of Butler with images from her estate (https://www.worldcat.org/title/bloodchild-and-other-stories/oclc/808490595?referer=di&ht=edition; 2012). I'm concerned that we've now undone those distinctions, and I haven't had time this week to review or restore them.

>87 jasbro: The "illustrated biography" is a one page bio with nine pictures and is the same biographical sketch and pictures included in all of Butler's works published by Open Road Media. Both the e-book edition and the second print edition contain all of the same stories, essays, and afterwards written by Butler. There is a thread in which this was discussed: https://www.librarything.com/topic/326780

https://www.librarything.com/work/16235325 is the combined e-book and second print edition of Bloodchild and other stories.
https://www.librarything.com/work/25753477 is the work created when I pulled all of the copies with an isbn matching the second edition out of the first, shorter edition. Both works are for editions with seven stories and two essays and should be combined.

Please combine

https://www.librarything.com/work/25782792
https://www.librarything.com/work/11515509

The first I separated from the larger group, which is supposed to contain only editions based on Max Brod's original editing. I went by ISBNs known to belong to editions based on 'restored text', and with distinguishable titles (Verschollene, The Missing Person, the Man who Disappeared, etc).

It's after midnight, so this needs checking, but I think https://www.librarything.com/work/8203571/editions needs some combining done that includes two big ones.

https://www.librarything.com/work/12339432
https://www.librarything.com/work/13587938

Judging by their respective disambiguation notices, these are the same .i.e. they contain the same stories

>91 SandraArdnas:
A review on the second item you posted lists stories not included in the disambiguation notice (and the reviewer notes these are not the full TOC).

Either these are the same book, but random different editions snuck in one or both, or the same disambiguation notice got attached to different works.

>92 Petroglyph: https://www.librarything.com/work/12339432 definitely has the contents in DN (that's the one I have). The other one could use additional info in the note if it's different. I'll see whether WorldCat has contents for those ISBNs

Edit: ISBNs 0143105248 9780143105244 9781448719167 144871916X 1566199700 9781566199704 1566199697 9781566199698 show as corresponding to penguin classics deluxe, which is quite different. So https://www.librarything.com/work/13587938 definitely needs some cleaning up

Edit2: Yep, it's a mishmash of various works. Some ISBNs belong to Dover Thrift editions.

OK, for starters I've separated the ISBN that's definitely the B&N edition, so please combine
https://www.librarything.com/work/25813727
https://www.librarything.com/work/12339432

ISBN 0140283366 belongs to Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century, and it's content corresponds with those in DN. So it should stay where it is. I'll add the canonical to make it distinguishable and separate others that do not belong here

I've also separated the few penguin and dover editions that didn't belong here and combined them into appropriate works.

https://www.librarything.com/work/13587938 now has two ISBN's, 0140283366 - Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century, 1566199697 - another B&N classics edition. As far as I can tell, they have the same contents, only in slightly different order. So either entire https://www.librarything.com/work/13587938 should be combined with https://www.librarything.com/work/12339432 , or if it's deemed better to keep B&N and Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century separate, than ISBN 1566199697 should be separated and combined with other B&N classics.

Now, I need coffee, I have a headache ;)

I think that https://www.librarything.com/work/26003111/editions is a paperback edition of https://www.librarything.com/work/20673. At least that is what is returned when I search for the ISBN of the first one. I think they should be combined.

>96 al.vick:, it seems that combination would be troublesome. WorldCat identifies that ISBN as a 1989 Turner Home Entertainment videotape for The Backbone of Night, an episode (v. 4, pt. 1.) of the "Cosmos" television program; see https://www.worldcat.org/title/backbone-of-night/oclc/22038270. I've added a canonical title, a series relationship, and a work relationship that I hope help put them in context with other related print and video copies, collections and sleections of Cosmos. If anyone can correct or improve on it, please do and thanks.

>97 jasbro: Any reason not to combine >89 SandraArdnas: and >94 SandraArdnas:? Also, what about >95 SandraArdnas:?

>97 jasbro: Okay, I just searched Amazon for 0345331354 as if I were adding a book, and it brought up the paperback record. I see you added video to the canonical title, so that makes it clear that it is not the book. --Thanks

Look at the series of videotapes: https://www.librarything.com/nseries/19289/Cosmos-%7Bvideo%7D
1 or 2 people own the other tapes, and 2,157 own volume 4 part 1? I really doubt it.
This is a case where I would absolutely ignore the ISBN and combine based on title and author.

>98 SandraArdnas: On your >89 SandraArdnas:, I personally value distinctions between a restored text and prior editions, viewing them as different content in much the same light as revised versions. The possibility of setting work relationships lets us connect two (or more) works yet recognize their differences; I wish there were something like a "revised/restored" relationship option, since not all revisions and restorations are necessarily "contained in" or "expanded" versions. In this case, we have both the restored text and an earlier edition (1946), https://www.librarything.com/work/28771; I'd want to review both copies and their respective LibraryThing records before I said or did more.

Similarly, I'm reluctant to speak to >94 SandraArdnas: and >95 SandraArdnas: because we neither have nor am I familiar with these anthologies or comparable editions. I suspect they're all contained in https://www.librarything.com/work/1340190, where I could confirm that the 1971, 1976 and 1983 editions have the same content (with John Updike's forward added for 1983).

Maybe I'm just particular, and particularly gun-shy; but in my experience, Kafka is one of those authors who's susceptible to recombinations of his content in a variety of editions.

>100 r.orrison: It looks like you have more information than either >96 al.vick: or I found, but I'll add that most covers at https://www.librarything.com/work/26003111 also appear to be books, not videos. I would defer to your better understanding, with thanks.

>101 jasbro: It looks like you have more information
The only information I have is the number of cataloged copies of each episode, as shown on the series list at https://www.librarything.com/nseries/19289/Cosmos-%7Bvideo%7D
There are three orders of magnitude more copies of what is claimed to be volume 4 part 1 than the other episodes. That can't be right.

>101 jasbro: Regarding Kafka's America, which is much more straightforward than the short story collections, I merely separated the restored editions from the old Max Brod edited ones so that they are combined where they belong. (As a result, there are 3 distinct works now, no longer just 2). The restored text is decades old by now and is the one published as a rule ever since. Yet, it was minuscule compared to old version.

Regarding Metamorphosis and Other Stories, there are so many works with the same title that I'd be inclined to keep the B&N and Penguin Great Books editions separate for the ease of recognizing and future combining, even though they contain the same stories in slightly different order. If separate, we can set the canonical title, not just rely on list of stories in the disambiguation notice. If that's the desired course, let me know and I'll separate so that only B&N editions are to be combined. Beyond that, I'll have to recheck the B&N editions, but I don't think they changed the content

>96 al.vick:
I've removed the canonical title which added information that wasn't in any member's cataloged title, unlinked it from the video series since I do not believe that over 2,000 people had cataloged that particular epsidode when only 1 or 2 people had cataloged the other episodes, and I've combined it into the main work.

>104 r.orrison: thanks!

I came across a few editions of The old man and the sea that are separate from the main work without an identifiable reason. I think they should be combined, but don't have the skills. Thanks in advance!
Main work:
- https://www.librarything.com/work/4933
Editions:
- https://www.librarything.com/work/25215967
- https://www.librarything.com/work/25215977
- https://www.librarything.com/work/25216042

>106 SimoneA:
Done.

>107 r.orrison: Great, thank you!

>48 leselotte:
>49 MarthaJeanne:

Sorry, i can t follow everything but just read post on Juil 28, 2020

These works can't so easily combined

https://www.archives-carmel-lisieux.fr/carmel/index.php/oeuvres-de-therese

And

https://www.archives-carmel-lisieux.fr/carmel/index.php/oeuvres-de-therese/manus...

See here for Story of works, (Manuscrit, adaptation, interpretation, Abridged, more or less completed and so on)....

After you had to identify the translation (with Date, Text)

So after combinaison have a reason.

THAT'S WHY You'll fund several works and links between.

COMBINAISON IS AN ERROR WHEN SUBJECT IS NOT RATHER PERFECTLY KNEW (above all with this author and this text

I separated many of these works and recombine with a big part of these element (direct from and Carmel with archivist, some etablished data editors.... and something as 700/750 hours (searches)......... (you can add time to read)

As we know, we prefer to speak to God tbefore Saints.

An exemple? Here just unique pictures of Thérèse..... (47), Others are artefact, Fake, ... (so 0.0000001 % are real original.... It is worst for text)
https://www.archives-carmel-lisieux.fr/carmel/index.php/les-retouches-des-photos...

Now i cry

>109 JMK2020: If you go to a lot of effort to separate, you need to add disambiguation notices to explain what is different about the works.

After that, others may disagree about whether the separation is justified. And over time books will be added to both works that don't match the original difference.

Please combine all these four works. I have read three of them and and a fourth is due out later in February. Mary Lawson is a Canadian author whose works I am very familiar with . Thanks!

https://www.librarything.com/work/16279 Crow Lake
https://www.librarything.com/work/1405036 The Other Side of the Lake
https://www.librarything.com/work/13767471 Road Ends
with https://www.librarything.com/work/25956718/book/196129866 A Town Called Solace

do not combine with this work https://www.librarything.com/work/181167 Knots The author has the same name, but is Australian and not the same as the Canadian author above.

Thanks!

>111 vancouverdeb: Are you saying that these are all the same book? That doesn't seem right.

The author page https://www.librarything.com/author/lawsonmary has been split.

>112 MarthaJeanne: Thanks , MarthaJeanne. My mistake. I meant to split the authors as you did . Perfect! Thanks you!

It was already split. I just added the new one.

https://www.librarything.com/work/7201
and
https://www.librarything.com/work/26050883

are both The Essential Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson. There's no obvious differences, and no disambiguation notices.

>115 prosfilaes: I looked at the publisher site, and they list three apparently identical editions for the book, so no, no differences. (ETA: over here)

(I did seperate out a couple of Terry Goodkind books from one of the two Essential works, but that's a different issue.)

>115 prosfilaes: Done

Please:
https://www.librarything.com/work/2228
and
https://www.librarything.com/work/1433125
(Penguin Classics edition)

Thanks!

>118 leselotte: How did so many people enter it with Ros Ballaster as author?

>119 MarthaJeanne: Because they can't tell the difference between the author of the story and somebody writing the introduction and notes included in it?

However, if the notes are substantial, then there is is case for not combining as that would be in line with the usual practice.

>118 leselotte: Done.

Please combine:
https://www.librarything.com/work/17185/
https://www.librarything.com/work/26234383/

>122 cbl_tn: Done.

Hello Combiners/love-busters,
I have separated both of these out of a cleanup on work/66229, which has a "deluxe" (expanded) version warranting its own work page:

https://www.librarything.com/work/26331237
https://www.librarything.com/work/26331347

ISBN 1401216676 is on both of these works:
On work/26331237 that ISBN is the largest edition, and it does have "deluxe" in its title there (598 copies)
On work/26331347 that ISBN (the only edition on the work) doesn't have "deluxe" (848 copies)

However, I think we would still want to combine the two, because only a few owners (17) out of the hundreds with that ISBN have uploaded a "non-deluxe" cover image for their copy, and the title/ISBN isn't a full mismatch, only missing the qualifier/subtitle. My instinct is to think it's better to combine, and thus all the ISBN 1401216676 will sit together on one work, hence this post, but if another way is preferred to handle work/26331347 I'll appreciate your wisdom. Thanks.

I think it should be combined. It looks to me just like a shortening of the title, given the ISBN.

>124 Nevov: >125 scott_beeler: And if an incorrect ISBN on a member’s record results in their non-deluxe work combined with the deluxe, their ISBN can be revised; as Nevov suggests, the deluxe edition should stand on its own.

>126 jasbro: Agreed that the deluxe should be kept separate from the basic edition, and if a user finds their copy is in the wrong work they can revise their copy. So if there's no objection can a staff member merge the two items Nevov points out, since the ISBN indicates both are the deluxe edition?

As a separate request, I'm currently cleaning up Alan Moore's page and there's another "too much love" case there that should be combined:
https://www.librarything.com/work/24058493
https://www.librarything.com/work/641699
These are both the first book in the Promethea series collections, and the outlier copy's ISBN matches that of many copies in the main work. Please combine?

>127 scott_beeler: Apologies! I saw and responded to Batman: The Killing Joke on myPhone, and flat-out forgot to follow up from a computer where I could do sump'n 'bout it. It's done now, as is Promethea, Volume 1. Thanks for your patience and reminder!

Please combine:

https://www.librarything.com/work/3251965
https://www.librarything.com/work/26104918

>129 Carmen.et.Error: Done - and thanks for your suggestion.

I saw that this edition https://www.librarything.com/work/25209159/editions of Further Tales of the City needs to be combined with the main work https://www.librarything.com/work/24718. As far as I can tell, there is no good reason to keep them separate. Thanks in advance!

>131 SimoneA: Done.

Please combine:

https://www.librarything.com/work/1426
https://www.librarything.com/work/26307936

>133 JacobHolt: Done.

>134 jasbro: Thank you!

Please combine Mother Bruce
https://www.librarything.com/work/16485970
https://www.librarything.com/work/26480735

Please combine https://www.librarything.com/work/23031131 and https://www.librarything.com/work/5473

>137 x_hoxha: (Homework mentioned in this thread: https://www.librarything.com/topic/332413)

>136 vivir_reads: done
>137 x_hoxha: done

>139 r.orrison: Thank you!

The Watchman comic #1 (https://www.librarything.com/work/2449075/editions/201092421) has 2 stray editions of the collection combined in; both have ISBN 1401219268. They need combining with https://www.librarything.com/work/7233/editions - which has getting on for 17,000 copies.

I'm not even going to try...

>141 Maddz: Done

>142 jasbro: Cheers!

Hello Combiners,
Could someone please do the honours on these two:

https://www.librarything.com/work/2492277
https://www.librarything.com/work/26623666

It is book 1 of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I separated /26623666 off an omnibus work where it had been wrongly combined, but its 262 owners is too many for me to complete the job and combine it into its correct work. Thanks.

>144 Nevov: Done!

https://www.librarything.com/work/19440148
https://www.librarything.com/work/26656110

>146 Stevil2001: Done

https://www.librarything.com/work/7233
https://www.librarything.com/work/26684706

It looks to me like the second link there should be combined with https://www.librarything.com/work/26684789, not with the collection of all 12 Watchmen books.

Given I asked for the collection to be removed from the single issue upthread... And it looks like it's got combined back in.

>149 MarthaJeanne: Hmm. I know entry 26684706 is titled as "Watchmen #1" but I just am skeptical that 350 people in LT have a copy of that single issue, when there's less than 20 people with copies of the second issue. I know there was a more recent reprint of it, but still to have that many people go out and get that... and the reprint cover doesn't show up attached to that LT entry at all...
https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?TID=16338351

I'm think it's more likely that people are entering this as the entire collection with a bad title. It's weird either way though.

>151 scott_beeler: I've noticed that a lot with comic issues - #1 usually has more than the rest of the series combined, even when you strip out the obviously wrong 'issues' with an ISBN and a different cover from the comic.

There is a set of people who buy issue 1s for investment purposes - they get sealed in one of those plastic cases and never read. You see a lot of those on Ebay at silly prices.

>150 Maddz: Apologies if I goofed. If you can tell specifically what's wrong and how it should be, I'm glad to help make it right.

>153 jasbro: I wasn't criticising, I was just pointing out I'd asked for some editions to be separated out and combined with the collected graphic novel. It looks like something has auto-combined again, although I did do the work-to-work relationships which should prevent that.

There's also a potential issue with foreign language translation not following the original numbering. If you look in Grendel, there's an example with Grendel Tales: Four Devils, One Hell. This was originally published as a 6-issue mini series, but translated as a 3-issue mini series.

Good places to check these are the Grand Comics Database (https://www.comics.org/) and Comic Vine (https://comicvine.gamespot.com/). The former is best for collections and foreign language versions.

Please combine

https://www.librarything.com/work/1812
https://www.librarything.com/work/25195081/book/132593546

>155 booksaplenty1949: I'm unsure whether all 1,973 copies of Treasure Island at -work/25195081 are complete and unabridged. Without limitation, two of our three copies have wound up there; one of the two is a 1963 Grosset & Dunlap, which - as I understand - were often adapted from original works. (Our third copy is a separate picture book adaptation, clearly and properly separate.)

Stray large entry for Persepolis.
https://www.librarything.com/work/25967476/
https://www.librarything.com/work/2371284/

I know there is some confusion amongst the various Persepolis editions (in four parts, two parts, one part) and some ISBN/title mismatches, but this particular ISBN seems to be for the first-of-two parts and I think it should be combined in.

Please combine https://www.librarything.com/work/10496 and https://www.librarything.com/work/26435217 . They're both Art of Computer Programming, Volume 1: Fundamental Algorithms, and the largest LT edition in both works is the Third Edition of the book.

>158 prosfilaes: Done.

After removing the one edition that was slaughter house five and player piano, it looks like these two books are both simply slaughter house five:
https://www.librarything.com/work/816613
https://www.librarything.com/work/21629606

Unless someone knows something I don't...

>160 al.vick: You just HAD to pick the edition with 200 and ONE member records, didn't you? :)

What I want to know is how Coming of Age in Mississippi got caught in the mix with Slaughterhouse-Five. (Probably a ratty-data ISBN.)

yep. I saw it was 201 members lol.

>161 jasbro: yep, I noticed the 201 members. lol.

I was cleaning Shel Silverstein's page and separated out expanded "special editions" of his collection "Where the Sidewalk Ends" which have additional poems added to the original edition. This is equivalent to how the special editions of "A Light in the Attic" and "Falling Up" are already handled on LT.

However, I did it in a couple passes because there were so many entries for each version, and I ended up with two "special edition" works which are each over 200 copies. Could somebody please combine:
https://www.librarything.com/work/26874583
https://www.librarything.com/work/26874617

For reference the original shorter edition (not to be combined here) is:
https://www.librarything.com/work/1833

>164 scott_beeler: Done.

On the Road (Penguin Orange Collection) was improperly combined with On the Road: The Original Scroll. I separated it already; it should instead be combined with On the Road.

https://www.librarything.com/work/26893861/
https://www.librarything.com/work/3207

>166 RobertHay: Done; thanks.

https://www.librarything.com/work/26945164/summary Chronicles of Narnia (all books) separated from single edition (Voyager)
https://www.librarything.com/work/6945753 (all books)

>168 Corinne2020: Done; thanks!

The Penguin Classics version of Moby Dick appears as an edition in the main entry for Moby Dick but also oddly under Graphic Classics: Moby Dick. Same ISBN, 0142437247, appears as editions for both. The two should be combined.
https://www.librarything.com/work/5803747/summary/204703805
https://www.librarything.com/work/15540

>170 RobertHay: Those two should NOT be combined. Your copy should be moved to the other work. I have now done that. Your copy is now at https://www.librarything.com/work/15540/204703805

https://www.librarything.com/work/68248
https://www.librarything.com/work/25084826

Thanks in advance :)

>172 leselotte: Done.

Hello, please combine:
https://www.librarything.com/work/1853
https://www.librarything.com/work/26956503

>171 MarthaJeanne: Thanks, I see the issue now. There is an edition called Graphic Classics that is clearly a different book, retold and illustrated. The amazon listing is here:
https://www.amazon.com/Moby-Graphic-Classics-Sophie-Furse/dp/0764134922
But the editions shown under the Graphic Classic entry on this site seem to show books with secondary author Tom Quirk (who did notes for the Penguin) and have ISBN 0142437247, the Penguin ISBN. I assume that's why when I scanned my book it went under the Graphic Classic instead of the main listing. So I do think that some of the editions listed under Graphic Classics should probably go under the main one instead, but I don't know how to go about sorting it out.

I have just separated all the editions out that don't say Graphic Classics. I put in a work relationship. I removed Tom Quirk, as whoever put that in obviously had the wrong book. (He was also listed as 'all editions'!)

But I am not going to get involved in trying to sort out all the various badly entered versions of Moby Dick.

>174 guyalice: Done

Please combine
https://www.librarything.com/work/25223092/ (the reviews appear to be before the true book was released in 2020. that supports combining with the draft version)
https://www.librarything.com/work/7110725 draft version

https://www.librarything.com/work/3373
https://www.librarything.com/work/26157269
https://www.librarything.com/work/26157283
https://www.librarything.com/work/26157281

Thanks in advance!

>179 leselotte: I'm reluctant to combine these works, at least in part because we have three copies of our own, and I'm unsure how they differ. (Without limitation, one's clearly abridged, as it only contains three of four voyages; another is part of a larger anthology; the third appears to be the original, complete work in its own right - unless, of course, it's not.) Regardless, our three copies are separated on distinct grounds, but I don't know which of these (or other) considerations apply to the separations you've identified. Given my experience of this and other often-reprinted "classics," I'll defer to someone who has better knowledge of the editions to be combined, and maybe of some other editions in particular to be further separate and distinguished.

https://www.librarything.com/work/26625359
https://www.librarything.com/work/15675675

both appear on the LGBTQ genre page, and seem to be duplicates.

>182 claytonhowl: Done; thanks for the lead.

ETA: Having now combined them, I see that ISBN 0545812577 for George by Alex Gino sometimes carries the title Melissa's Story also or instead; but that title doesn't look to be a work in its own right. Does anyone out in LibraryThingLand have insight on this usage? Thanks again ...

http://www.alexgino.com/melissa/

The author prefers the title Melissa's Story.

It does seem a bit weird for a book about a boy who 'knows she's not a boy. She knows she's a girl.' to use the boy's name as the title.

FYI msg 178 is still incomplete

There are some rogue editions of Little Women:
- Main work: https://www.librarything.com/work/2770499
- Rogue 1: https://www.librarything.com/work/24061684/editions
- Rogue 2: https://www.librarything.com/work/25794791/editions

Thanks in advance!

>185 Corinne2020: Done.

>186 SimoneA: Done.

Loose 200+ copy to be merged:

https://www.librarything.com/work/6550765
https://www.librarything.com/work/25666305

>188 scott_beeler: Done.

I believe these should be combined:

https://www.librarything.com/work/2773690
https://www.librarything.com/work/26686655

There are no disambiguation notices. It appears that someone has just separated out a Penguin Classics edition from the main work as that is the only edition listed in the second case. In fact, the first work even has at least one book with the same ISBN as the second work - and there are several Penguin Classics also included in the first work.

Thanks!

>190 rretzler: Done.

>191 jasbro: Thanks, so much!

https://www.librarything.com/work/26157269
https://www.librarything.com/work/26157273
https://www.librarything.com/work/26157281

All appear to be unabridged editions of Gulliver's Travels and should be combined with https://www.librarything.com/work/3373

>192 rretzler: My pleasure!

>193 amanda4242: I've weighed in on Gulliver's Travels and other "classics" before and will defer to others now, especially because this is one work I'm particularly leery of combining. We currently have three versions: one in an anthology (that one's easy!) and two stand-alone, one of which is clearly abridged (which I only discovered 3/4 of the way through a high school English test, much to my dismay).

Someone's clearly putting a great deal of time and effort into separating editions. I don't know whether they have the capacity to then compare and either recombine or distinguish, but I'm reluctant to undo their work only to amass a single 500,000-copy (give or take) undifferentiated work. (Yes, that prob'ly/definitely violates the cocktail-party rule; but really now, how many cocktail parties have YOU attended in the last 18 months?)

I'd love to ask the seperator(s) what they're up to here, and whether and how we can help. I thought that, once upon a time, we could see who the "helpers" are doing such separations and recombinations. Am I just dreaming that, is it really gone, or am I again overlooking something at the end of my nose?

>194 jasbro: I certainly understand your reluctance to tackle Gulliver!

https://www.librarything.com/work/26157269 and https://www.librarything.com/work/26157273 both have an identical isbn (0141439491) and have Penguin Classics in their titles, so I believe it would be safe to combine at least those two. I did a little research and that isbn appears to belong to an unabridged Penguin edition. Isbn 0141439491 appears a number of times in the main unabridged Gulliver work https://www.librarything.com/work/3373, so we either should combine the works or do some more separating.

https://www.librarything.com/work/26157281 has an isbn (0486292738) of an unabridged Dover edition, and that isbn also appears among the editions of the unabridged Gulliver.

>195 amanda4242: OK, baby steps!

Thanks to your sleuthery (izzat a word?), all Gulliver's Travels with ISBN 0141439491 and no titular difference from "Penguin Classics" should now be at https://www.librarything.com/work/26157269; for a notable example of difference, see https://www.librarything.com/work/27328990.

Similarly, all ISBNs with no difference from "Dover Thrift Editions" are at https://www.librarything.com/work/26157281; a notable difference, https://www.librarything.com/work/15436528.

Also, a number of each ISBN are still at https://www.librarything.com/work/3373 with other editions noted in their titles, together with a number of Penguin Classics and Dover Thrift Editions having other ISBNs. (All the Qualitas Editions appear captured together.)

Did I mention baby steps?

>196 jasbro: Thanks! I totally understand going very slowly with this one, as it would be a complete nightmare to untangle any mistakes.

I think these need to be combined:

https://www.librarything.com/work/12093568
https://www.librarything.com/work/22900926

I think these need to be combined. Both are complete tales and poems:
https://www.librarything.com/work/3053532
https://www.librarything.com/work/51588

>198 BUCCLibrary: Done.

ETA:>199 al.vick: I get your point, but I’m leery of combining these. If anything, more separation and analysis seems called for before we begin lumping things back together. Without limitation, for https://www.librarything.com/work/51588, WorldCat shows ISBNs 0670919845 & 0670919837 as 1040 and 1026 pages, respectively; but the Table of Contents that Amazon’s “Look Inside” preview associates with 0670919845 (not dispositive, I’ll grant) describes a 2021 paperback edition as “the Second Volume.” Meanwhile, back at the ranch, WorldCat reports ISBN 3933070392 (a German edition, I think) as having only 640 pages; and the Amazon preview for ISBN 0785814531 indicates 848 pages. The two Amazon previews are the only information I find about contents of these four editions (WorldCat can’t find a fifth ISBN), and I’ve not yet take time to compare them with WorldCat-reported contents of ISBN 030780853X at https://www.librarything.com/work/3053532, where there’s a whole buncha other editions to divine and discern. I’m open to comment, suggestions, assistance, and input, but I’m personally not ready to combine these. I wanna know more ...

And, with that, this thread is CLOSED. Please continue our discussions at Blocks to combining that affects large numbers of copies (Sorry, too much love!) #4. Thank you!