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Originally Posted by QuantumIguana
That is not true. When a work is in the public domain, anyone has the right to do with it as they wish. Earlier, you objected to the copyright holder making changes to the Nancy Drew books. Those changes were far more sweeping, because they didn't create an alternative version alongside the original, the edited version replaced the original. You could only find the original if you could get an old copy. You couldn't buy it in stores, because the only version available was the version edited by the copyright holder. The copyright holder is under no obligation to tell you what changes were made or to tell you that changes were made at all.
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I'm not talking about some legal right. I'm talking about a moral right.
I objected to the changes in Nancy Drew because the originals were turned into pablum--there may be some Nancy Drew fans who prefer the revisions to the originals, but I've never come across one. I do not question the right of the publisher to have made any changes, only their judgment.
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With public domain works, if there is a problem, it is clearly less of a problem than edited books under copyright, because the original version remains dominant. Project Gutenberg isn't going to carry an edited version, and at the book outlets, the original has a major advantage in being free. I have paid for public domain books, I haven't paid much, but I have paid. I have paid when the version has added value. I bought the complete set of Baum's Oz books, for the convenience in having them in one volume, and having an interactive table of contents. If people think that this edited book has value, they will buy it. If they don't, they will go with the original, which they can get for free.
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This is all really irrelevant. The Ruth Plumly Thompson book in question, for instance, isn't available at PG. Likewise other public domain books are sprinkled all over the Web--look at the library here, or at Munseys--without necessarily being at PG. I have a certain faith in PG to give me the straight text, but now I'm not so sure about other sources. What's to stop them from going all PC? If I'm familiar with a story, maybe I'll notice. If I'm not, then what? I could be reading a highly censored version and never know it. It may be legal for people to edit the works of the past, but it's still wrong.