It's unfair to say that Child shouldn't be criticized - as a scholar, I'd imagine that the first thing he expected to have happen on publication was a lively discussion in the circles he worked in on his efforts, their validity, and their application to the various facets that he covers.

There ARE a few things that he accomplished that (in my opinion) earn him my gratitude as a modest student of the form. In the various introductory support material in the edition I have (the paperback), it mentions several collections that he was able to pry into that otherwise were being very meticulously guarded by their owners - one specific mention is "the Percy MS". In the introduction and biography of Mr. Child, it states:

"The Percy MS. was at Ecton Hall, in the possession of the Bishop's descendants, who would permit no one to even examine it. Two attmpts were made by Dr Furnivall, at Mr Child's insistance, to induce the owners to allow the manuscript to be printed, - one as early as 1860 or 1861, the other in 1864, - but without avail. A third attempt was more successful, and in 1867-68 the long-secluded folio was made the common property of scholars in an edition prepared by Professor Hales and Dr Furnivall."

At the very least, things such as this would earn a place of note. Without Child, it is possible that the MS (and others that he gained access to after MUCH work) may have eventually been published. But, it is also just as likely that they would have remained locked away and possibly may never have been reviewed and either included in Child's work or published on their own.

Beyond that, there is the debate over whether a collector accomplishes anything in their own right. Again in my opinion, they do. To me, the act of collecting the material in a small way provides a certain level of legitimacy to it, and in the case of Mr. Child (a Harvard professor), I believe that at that time he provided a definite 'scholarly' air to a subject that many people believed (and still do) was 'beneath' any but the 'common folk'.

Anyway, that's my two cents.

M