Posted by Forrest Brownell on September 26, 1997 at 19:28:14:
In Reply to: Re: Ex nihilo nihil fit posted by Wayne Hammond on September 24, 1997 at 12:45:25:
Hoist by my own petard, alas. I was referring to the instances where the words
'nigger' and 'piccaninny' have been expunged or replaced with less offensive
alternatives. The former solecism, of course, appears in The Big Six and, in a
more innocuous context, in Peter Duck; the latter, in Secret Water (the
irrepressible Roger essays a pun on John's 'small black buoy').
My Puffin edition of The Big Six substitutes 'negroes' for 'niggers' in the
darkroom scene between Pete and Dick, but after searching among all the volumes
on my shelves I've had no luck in finding examples of the other excisions or
alterations I remember. Perhaps this is because I first read Ransome's tales in
books borrowed from local libraries -- a mix of English and American editions of
varying ages. I can only assume, therefore, that I met the Bowdlerised texts
during this early reading, but I've not as yet succeeded in identifying the
editions. Perhaps some more knowledgeable Ransome enthusiast can help me here.
Forrest