I erred in referring the edition of 50 songs to the 1887 edition.

To the First Edition were added 16 more, bringing "the number up to forty." Ten more were added for the Third Edition. No dates were given in the Third Edition.
A Preface to the Revised Edition by W. K. Hill, commenting on various publications of chanteys, posits the question, "Is it not rather his duty to set down for permanent record only what he believes to have been the true original of the chanties in the mouths of their best exponents? The Editors of this collection, which has been revised for this new issue, worked upon the latter conception. Therefore those who render these chanties may be fairly sure that, as far as can be ascertained, they are singing the real songs of the sea in their original purity and force."