General Notes:

Today, collectors and scholars of The Modern Library usually don't try to differentiate the various ML printings, except to note the first printing, and then only in those cases where it is possible to determine. Instead, the various issues of ML titles are ordered by the chronological sequences of binding, endpaper, and title page styles, and by the Modern Library catalog listings (usually) found at the end of each volume.

Our Silver Stallion bibliography is intended to be a complete bibliography of James Branch Cabell, though, and our goal is to be as inclusive and detailed as possible. For that reason, we have taken a somewhat more completist approach, and listed our entries by printing, in the same manner as the rest of the bibliography. We realize that this is a task that can never be declared 100% complete, though, and welcome corrections, updates, and new information from our readers.

You will find many names and terms that are specific to Modern Library collecting sprinkled liberally throughout our Modern Library pages. See the Cabell in The Modern Library page for detailed discussions of these special terms.

Silver Stallion Changes to Hall's Descriptions:

The Modern Library printings of James Branch Cabell's works present one of those rare cases where today's bibliographic knowledge has superseded Hall's work of forty years past. Try as we might, we have been unable to maintain Hall's issue designations and have changed them to suit our understanding of the facts. Below is a description of the changes we have made.

Hall lists three Modern Library editions of Beyond Life:

BL-B1 (ML) First Modern Library Edition

Hall distinguishes his First Edition by (1) the Boni & Liveright imprint on the title page recto; (2) it omits the " critical reviews" that follow the text in the McBride printings; (3) bound in imitation leather.

The Silver Stallion has identified two separate printings that meet this description:

BL-B1 (ML) - meets Hall's First Edition criteria, and has the Boni & Liveright device on the front cover (binding Style 2). Catalog of Modern Library titles at rear lists 106 titles.

*BL-B2 (ML) - meets Hall's First Edition criteria, but has the Modern Library "Monk scribe" device on the front cover (binding Style 3). Catalog of Modern Library titles at rear lists 109 titles, and adds an prefatory paragraph noting that this list includes "those published during the Fall of Nineteen Hundred and Twenty-three."

BL-B2 (ML) Second Modern Library Edition

Hall distinguishes his Second Edition by (1) the omission of the Boni & Liveright imprint on the title page recto; (2) textually indentical to the First; (3) bound in imitation leather.

The Silver Stallion has identified two separate printings that meet this description:

*BL-B3 (ML) - meets Hall's Second Edition criteria, and has the Modern Library "Monk scribe" device on both the front cover (binding Style 3) and the title page recto (type E).

*BL-B5 (ML) - meets Hall's Second Edition criteria, and has the Bernhard Torchbearer device on both the front cover (binding Style 4) and the title page recto (type F).

The Silver Stallion has also identified one printing that does not meet any of Hall's descriptions.

*BL-B4 (ML) - has the Bernhard Torchbearer device on both the front cover (binding Style 4) and the title page recto (type F), but includes the "critical reviews" present in the McBride printings.

BL-B3 (ML) Third Modern Library Edition

Hall distinguishes his Third Edition by (1) bound in cloth; (2) textually indentical to the First.

The Silver Stallion has identified three printings, in four bindings, that meet this description.

*BL-B6 (ML) - meets Hall's Third edition criteria. Bound in Style 4.5 Transitional binding.

*BL-B6a (ML) - meets Hall's Third edition criteria. Same printing as BL-B6, but bound in Style 5₁ binding.

*BL-B7 (ML) - meets Hall's Third edition criteria. Bound in Style 5₂ binding.

*BL-B8 (ML) - meets Hall's Third edition criteria. Bound in Style 7 binding.