799 pages • 2nd Printing, February 2026
Volume I
Now available in paperback. By Marc Shepherd and Michael Walters.
A variorum is an edition that presents the variant states of a text, with editorial commentary. This book is the first of a five-volume variorum of the Gilbert & Sullivan libretti, tracing their evolution from pre-production drafts and the early productions, through revivals, twentieth-century D’Oyly Carte practice, and the contributions of later editors and editions.
The editors, Marc Shepherd and Michael Walters, have researched hundreds of sources, including Gilbert and Sullivan’s original manuscripts, drafts, license copies, printed libretti, prompt books, vocal scores, sheet music, and recordings, tracing each opera’s textual history in copious detail, from the creative period through to the present day.
This first volume contains the four earliest Gilbert & Sullivan operas: Thespis, Trial by Jury, The Sorcerer, and the collaborators’ first international hit, H.M.S. Pinafore.
Purchase at Lulu · $30 ↗
