Talk:The Book of Merlyn

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"Paper Shortages"...?

"Originally submitted for publication in 1941, due to wartime paper shortages White was unable to convince his publisher to include The Book of Merlyn as part of the collected edition of The Once and Future King (which was first published in its entirety in 1958).[1]"

Given the relative lengths of "The Once and Future King" with and without the inclusion of "The Book of Merlyn", it stretches credulity that the reason for not including TBM in the complete text was somehow related to "paper shortages."

My understanding is that the reason for rejecting TBM was due to its explicit anti-war message, coming as it did in the midst of WWII and the perceived threat of imminent invasion from Germany.

If I can find a proper citation, I will add it. But thought I would raise this point for discussion. 67.169.85.17 (talk) 21:00, 20 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

67.169.85.17, The flyleaf text for the Texas Press edition has "White sent The Book of Merlyn to his London publisher in 1941. World War II and the attendant disruptions and paper shortages, as well as the intensity of the antiwar feeling White expresses, all contributed to the decision not to publish the book." Unfortunately, while we could cite that we don't know who wrote the flyleaf text. The Texas Press editions of The Book of Merlyn contain a 12-page essay by T. L. White biographer Sylvia Townsend Warner only mentions paper shortages as the reason for why The Book of Merlyn was not published. It's possible Warner's 1967 biography explains if and how much White's antiwar message factored into the decision not to publish in 1942.

Warner's essay brought up another issue which is that White had revised The Sword in the Stone (1938), The Queen of Air and Darkness (1939), plus The Ill-Made Knight (1940) to weave in the anti-war theme. In November 1941 White sent the revisions along with The Candle in the Wind (part 4) and The Book of Merlyn (part 5) to the publisher with the intent that all five parts be published together as a single book. The publisher's "paper shortage" response as the reason for declining publication was because White wanted publication of a huge book.

There's also the puzzle that The Once and Future King was published as a four-part book in 1958. Warner's essay does not explain why The Once and Future King included The Candle in the Wind but not The Book of Merlyn. I should see if I can get a copy of the White biography by Warner to see if she was aware of The Book of Merlyn. --Marc Kupper|talk 18:37, 17 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]