Much Ado About Nothing, Really

In my other journal  I talk about my enjoyment of the authors Georgette Heyer and Patricia Veryan and  how I have been slowly building my collections of their books.  I have at least one copy of every Heyer book except for three, and I have more than one copy (paperback and hardcover, with and without dust jackets, 1st editions and re-prints) of more than half of her 55 novels.  As for Veryan I still need six of hers to have one copy of each. 

I keep an eye on eBay for whichever book I'm looking for and I receive email alerts whenever there are new listings for either author.  I look at the listings even when it's for a copy that I already have, just in case it's a first edition for a good price, or maybe an Australian or German edition, or in case there is something else that makes it appeal to me. 

I just got one such alert, and it made me laugh because once again the title is written incorrectly.  I don't know if the sellers sometimes give the title wrong or if it's just a misprint (I suspect the seller is in a hurry, has never even read the book, or just gets it wrong!).  The one that made me laugh today was supposed to have been SPRIG MUSLIN, a Heyer novel set during the Regency Era.  Muslin is an inexpensive, closely-woven, bleached cotton material, and very young, unmarried ladies generally would wear "sprig" muslin as everyday wear, the "sprig" referring to the small pattern on the material.  A "sprig" can mean a small twig of a plant or an ornament or decoration of that shape or something used to beautify.  Another definition for "sprig" is a young, immature person. Well this listing has it written as SPRIG MUSLIM.  I wonder what a sprig Muslim would be?  A young, immature person of the Muslim faith?

Another Heyer that I've seen listed wrong many times is BATH TANGLE, another Regency novel.  Bath is a city in England, and Bath Tangle refers to the mix-ups, the confusion and the subsequent unraveling, or un tangling, of the dilemmas in the plot of the story.  But more than once I have seen it listed as BATH TANGO, which causes me to envision a couple sloshing back and forth in a bathtub of water.

The other two Heyers that come to mind that I've seen wrong are DEVIL'S CUB and POWDER AND PATCH.  These are both Georgian novels; The "Cub" in DEVIL'S CUB refers to the son of a character from a previous book who was referred to as a "Devil", and POWDER AND PATCH gets its name from the way they wore their hair and decorated themselves with patches.  But I've seen these two listed as DEVIL'S CLUB and POWER AND PATCH.  The only Veryan novel I've seen listed wrong is one set in 1813. The title is supposed to be THE DIRTY FROG; "frog" here referring to a Frenchman.  But I've seen it listed as THE DIRTY FOG, which always makes me wonder if it's a book set in San Francisco!

I know -- no one's perfect, but I'm anal about such things (I turn upside-down cans and boxes right-side-up in grocery stores!!).  They're good for a laugh, anyway!