Bronson didn't "condense" the four volumes down to one. He wrote to me before it was published, asking what criteria I would use in selecting material for a single volume of "The Singing Tradition" of the ballads. I suggested that he simply choose those versions he found most "singable" or appealing. He responded quickly, pointing out that he was not attempting to produce "a song book," as such, for the folk revival. He would have considered that far too commercial an enterprise. So what you have is not a condensation, but a selection of versions of the ballads Bronson felt were especially representative.

I was under the impression that Dick Greenhaus was trying to make an arrangement with Princeton to put the entire work on the Web. Has this come to naught or is it still in process?

Mario: remember that many of the ballads included in the Bronson volumes were collected much more recently than the 1923 date you mention above. Collectors were gathering ballads all during the 30s, 40s and 50s and many of them gave Bronson permission to use their material. The ballads I gave him for inclusion (see the addenda in volume 4) were from field recordings I made in the 60s.

Sandy