Three unrecorded publications by Philip Henry Gosse, with notes on primary text on wrappers of journals and books, and a proposal for the bibliographical description of wrappers

Abstract

The ephemeral paper wrappers on parts issues of scientific journals and books are often valuable for establishing publication dates and other bibliographical details. It seems to be less well known that wrappers sometimes also carry primary text that was not reprinted within the pages proper of the publication when it was reissued as a complete volume. Examples of such parts issue wrappers from the journal, The zoologist, and the book, A manual of British butterflies and moths (by H.T. Stainton) are given herein. This recognition led to the discovery of three unrecorded publications (short letters) by P. H. Gosse on the wrappers of two issues of The zoologist for 1860. They were not reprinted in the definitive volume for the year, nor were they listed in the index. Hence, they are untraceable in runs of The zoologist without wrappers bound in. To facilitate the accurate bibliographical description of material printed on wrappers of parts issues of journals and books, a scheme is proposed for the notional pagination of wrappers to distinguish them, when necessary, from the text proper.