# Items not even in the "Complete" editions **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 16, 2026, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-not-even-in-the-complete-editions/1033106 "2026-09-16T13:10:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-not-even-in-the-complete-editions/1033106/1 "2026-09-16T13:10:35Z")
Not long ago we discussed several Sherlock Holmes stories you won’t find in any of the versions labeled “Complete”. Even though Leslie Klinger’s _Annotated Sherlock Holmes_ contains the four stories dubbed “The Apocrypha” (which mention an un-named detective in them), neither he nor others include "How Watson Learned the Trick " (from the Queen Victoria Doll-House) or _The Field Bazaar_ (written for a fund raiser) or the Sherlock Holmes plays that Doyle wrote. Similarly, there are other works by the original authors that are incomplete in some fashion. Cecil Scott Forester’s “Horatio Hornblower” series – Forester originally wrote three novels that formed a complete trilogy in the 1940s. He then went and started writing short stories in the 1950s and eventually complete other novels in the 1960s. These have been collected into a chronological series, including an extra volume “The Hornblower Companion” (which contains the outline of a never-written Hornblower story) and a collection, “Hornblower During the Crisis”, which contains two short stories and the incomplete title novel (which I suspect he was writing to explain howcum Hornblower wasn’t at the Battle of Trafalgar). But Forester also wrote four short stories that appeared in magazines, and have since appeared in some collections of sea stories, but have not been collected together in a single volume, as far as I know. Undoubtedly the reason is that they are not compatible with the rest of Hornblower’s history. But he had no problem publishing the 1940s novels and the 1960s novels as parts of the same series, despite sevetal inconsistencies between the two sets. H.G. Wells’ **The Time Machine** – Wells wrote several other scenes for this novel that were included in later editions, and some have some scenes but not others. They have finally all been collected into one volume, along with his proto-version of the story, “The Chronic Argonaut” Mark Twain’s **The Mysterious Stranger** – Twain actually wrote three versions of this story. Well, most of three versions, anyway. The single complete version most people have read is actually a composite created by Albert Bigelow Paine after Twain’s death. All three versions have been published together in one critical volume. Speaking of Twain and Paine, it’s interesting that versions of _Mark Twain’s Autobiography_ published before 2010 are actually versions that Paine put together from sections of autobiography that Twain published at different times, and not Twain’s real intended autobiography, which he insisted not be published until a century after his death. There’s also a version cobbled together by Bernard de Voto. But the real Twain autobiography is the massive three-volume edition published between 2010 and 2015 by The Mark Twain Project. It bothered me for a long time that the earlier autobiographies did not fit the description that Twain himself wrote about in the introduction, and it wasn’t until I finally bought and read the first volume of twain’s 2010 autobiography that I understood why. Incidentally, I notice that I only see copies of the first volume in used-book stores, and have only seen the first volume as an audio book. Evidently most people had their appetite for Twain’s reminiscences satisfied by that first massive volume, and didn’t feel like paying for and reading a second volume of the same size, let alone a third. Since I’m a Twain fanatic, I bought and read all three volumes (in addition to the Paine-edited earlier version). ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-not-even-in-the-complete-editions/1033106/2 "2026-09-16T13:20:52Z")
Not sure if this is exactly what you’re looking for, but in recent years, Stephen King has not allowed his novella _Rage_ to be published in editions of _The Bachman Books_. He says that the subject matter, about a student who kills a teacher and holds his class hostage, is a little too close to current events, and he doesn’t want to influence that behavior, even indirectly. Which, while I understand the rationale, is disappointing. It’s easily my favorite story in that book. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-not-even-in-the-complete-editions/1033106/3 "2026-09-16T14:38:19Z")
Well, not really. More like it would be the many Stephen King stories that have never been published or collected. Great Og, there’s a lot of them: > **[Unpublished and uncollected works by Stephen King](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unpublished_and_uncollected_works_by_Stephen_King)** > > There are numerous unpublished works by Stephen King that have come to light throughout King's career. These include novels and short stories, most of which remain unfinished. Many of them were stored among Stephen King's papers in the special collections of the Raymond H. Fogler Library at the University of Maine, but the papers were removed in 2020. Additionally, there are a number of uncollected short stories, published throughout King's long career in various anthologies and per (Partial li... But I really had in mind not general works by an author, but parts of a series, or chapters from a particular book, which are not typically published as part of that book. There are paragraphs that were left out of many editions of Jonathan Swift’s _Gulliver’s Travels_, for instance. And there were several panels (amounting to about two pages\_ left out of may edition of the Carl Barks “Uncle Scrooge” story _Back to the Klondike_ (the original panels were edited out and lost. Barks redrew them for inclusion in a big collection of Scrooge stories. I swear they look different in later editions.) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-not-even-in-the-complete-editions/1033106/4 "2026-09-16T15:00:05Z")
Since your thread title seems pretty generic, it made me think of movie box set collections. United Artists sold some of their rights to _The Return of the Pink Panther_ (1975) to ITC, which retained key home video and television rights. The movie was famously excluded from standard MGM/UA DVD and Blu-ray box sets. This was a huge omission as this is, at least in my view, arguably the best movie in the entire series. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-not-even-in-the-complete-editions/1033106/5 "2026-09-16T16:39:03Z")
I note that the Pink Panther collections also appear to neglect the 1968 movie **Inspector Clouseau** , which had Alan Arkin playing the title character. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-not-even-in-the-complete-editions/1033106/6 "2026-09-16T16:39:53Z")
My introduction to the Sherlock Holmes canon was when I bought a book titled “_The Complete Sherlock Holmes Treasury_”. I didn’t realize that it omitted the first story, _A Study in Scarlet_. I was very confused that the first story in the book seemed to be picking up _in medias res_, with occasional references to earlier activities that weren’t in the text. When I finally figured it out, I was very irritated at the title of the book. I guess this isn’t quite what you’re looking for, but Tolkien’s original version of _The Lord of the Rings_ did not end where the book currently ends, with Sam returning home after seeing Frodo and Bilbo sail away. There was a final chapter set some 25 years later, in which Sam is seen at home with his family, reading to them from the Red Book and explaining what has happened since the end of the great adventure (Gimli and Legolas having moved closer to Gondor, Merry and Pippin’s activities, Aragorn still king of Gondor but is planning a visit to the Shire, etc). Tolkien was persuaded by others to omit that chapter. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-not-even-in-the-complete-editions/1033106/7 "2026-09-16T16:43:33Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I guess this isn’t quite what you’re looking for, but Tolkien’s original version of _The Lord of the Rings_ did not end where the book currently ends, with Sam returning home after seeing Frodo and Bilbo sail away. There was a final chapter set some 25 years later, in which Sam is seen at home with his family, reading to them from the Red Book and explaining what has happened since the end of the great adventure (Gimli and Legolas having moved closer to Gondor, Merry and Pippin’s activities, Aragorn still king of Gondor but is planning a visit to the Shire, etc). Tolkien was persuaded by others to omit that chapter. I’d never heard about this. There’s an extra chapter to Bram Stoker’s **Dracula** that was published separately, often in collections, as _Dracula’s Guest_. Leslie Klinger has persuasively argued that it isn’t simply a discarded chapter, because you can’t really fiit into into the narrative without chronological problems, so it’s from an earlier, discarded version. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-not-even-in-the-complete-editions/1033106/8 "2026-09-16T16:53:33Z")
Two versions of the unpublished chapter are given in The History of Middle Earth. [Here](https://mindstalk.net/bkxyzzy/tolkien/TolkienEpilogue.pdf) is a copy of the second version, which Tolkien originally intended to publish. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-not-even-in-the-complete-editions/1033106/9 "2026-09-16T16:55:37Z")
Not really what you’re looking for, but I’ve always found it hilarious that three years after Jim Fixx wrote _The Complete Book of Running_ he wrote _Jim Fixx’s Second Book of Running_. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-not-even-in-the-complete-editions/1033106/10 "2026-09-16T17:10:20Z")
The [Bodies from the Library](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08PFB51WF?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback) series are collections of mysteries that were only published in a magazine or newspaper. They include stories from Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-not-even-in-the-complete-editions/1033106/11 "2026-09-16T23:10:34Z")
If TV series count, then the original _Hawaii Five-O_ with Jack Lord has a “Complete Series” DVD set that is missing an episode. The second-season episode “Bored, She Hung Herself” aired once, in 1970. It features a female character known to repeatedly hang herself as a “health practice” (possibly a reference to auto-erotic asphyxiation). The character later ends up dead from hanging. McGarrett has to figure out whether it was an accident, suicide, or murder. I saw it once, or part of it, in a bootleg copy on YouTube. It wasn’t a very good episode and I don’t remember how it turned out. The episode has never been shown in reruns or syndication, or been included in any VHS or DVD release. It is sometimes claimed that the episode inspired a real person to copy the “health practice” and die, and the resulting lawsuit forced the producers to withdraw the episode. But nobody can name the person who died or point to any legal filings. It’s entirely possible that there was no death or lawsuit and the producers withdrew it voluntarily out an abundance of caution or a desire to avoid further bad publicity. ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-not-even-in-the-complete-editions/1033106/12 "2026-09-16T23:20:32Z")
An alternate strip was left out of the compilation “The Complete Calvin and Hobbes.” On 28 November 1985, some one half of syndicated newspapers received a strip where Calvin is disappointed that he will be taking his bath in the bathtub as usual, and not in the washing machine as Hobbes does; the other half received a strip where Calvin gets sent to his room for saying that his mother’s cooking “smells like bat barf” and then goes to order pizza. [See here](https://calvinandhobbes.fandom.com/wiki/Alternate_strip). The first of the two strips was omitted from the Complete Calvin and Hobbes. The reason for omitting it is not explained, but it is possible that the publishers felt that including it – due to Calvin’s wish to take his bath in the washing machine – could give children the idea to try to do this themselves at home. Incidentally, the “bat barf” line has always been one of my favorite moments in the series. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-not-even-in-the-complete-editions/1033106/13 "2026-09-16T23:26:50Z")
Speaking of TVshows when pro wrestler Chris Benoit died-- WWE aired a live tribute edition of WWE _Monday Night RAW_. During the broadcast WWE executives learned that Benoit had in fact murdered his wife and son and then killed himself. On the next WWE show WWE owner Vince McMahon apologized for airing THE show and vowed that Benoit’s name will NEVER even be mentioned on thier TV again. This episode has NEVER been aired or released again. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-not-even-in-the-complete-editions/1033106/14 "2026-09-16T23:38:13Z")
Benoit was my favorite wrestler and even though I had stopped watching at that point, I watched the tribute show. I noted that the tone changed during the show and was really confused. I believe people mark Steven Regal’s talking head as being the moment it changed–like word had gotten to the boys at that point and Steve was told to go on but downplay Benoit. For “complete” collections-- Marvel was pretty bad about this in the omnibusses. I picked up the Acts of Vengeance ominibus thinking it was every tie-in issue…Nope. They left out so many issues they apparently did a second one to collect those. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2026, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-not-even-in-the-complete-editions/1033106/15 "2026-09-17T00:50:36Z")
Another TV example: in the _Talespin_ episode “Flying Dupes,” Baloo is tasked with transporting a package into enemy territory that turns out to be a concealed bomb. This was apparently deemed inappropriate for a lighthearted children’s series, as the episode was only rerun once (likely by accident) and never included in any DVD or streaming releases. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2026, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-not-even-in-the-complete-editions/1033106/16 "2026-09-17T04:43:04Z")
This kind of thing is not uncommon in the world of music. The first example that came to mind: > **[Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Message_in_a_Box:_The_Complete_Recordings)** > > Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings is a four-CD box set by the Police, containing the contents of all five of their studio albums in chronological order, as well as non-album singles, non-album B-sides, and tracks from various compilation albums and the Brimstone & Treacle soundtrack (1982). The box set also comes with a 68-page booklet. The box set states that it 'contains every single song the Police ever released' but it excludes ten officially released tracks from before its release i... > The box set states that it ‘contains every single song the Police ever released’ but it excludes ten officially released tracks from before its release in [1993](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_in_music "1993 in music"): ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2026, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-not-even-in-the-complete-editions/1033106/17 "2026-09-17T08:10:33Z")
Not what the OP was asking about but I recall being quite taken with the story behind the discovery of Terry Pratchett’s lost stories. That no-one knew were lost. They have since been published. [How two retired doctors hunted down Terry Pratchett’s lost stories](https://inews.co.uk/culture/retired-doctors-terry-pratchett-lost-stories-2695534?srsltid=AU7gw4XmCbSYGpbEJ5IIR5p09igR9VAv8x3frVlqdtcJheGXGrWpTZ7I) ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2026, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-not-even-in-the-complete-editions/1033106/18 "2026-09-17T09:03:08Z")
The _Complete Epigrams_ of Martial translated into English, are not. ---
**Author:** ![sboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@sboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sboy)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2026, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-not-even-in-the-complete-editions/1033106/19 "2026-09-17T15:34:35Z")
I have the double album titled “The Best of the Beach boys” and my favorite song of theirs ( Good vibrations) IS NOT INCLUDED. it really ticked me off ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2026, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-not-even-in-the-complete-editions/1033106/20 "2026-09-17T15:47:10Z")
_The Complete Crumb Comics_ is missing _The Yum Yum Book_ because Robert Crumb’s ex-wife Dana still owns the copyright. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/items-not-even-in-the-complete-editions/1033106.md?page=2)