# Why Are Penguin Classics So Different

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-penguin-classics-so-different/556855>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [October 12, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-penguin-classics-so-different/556855 "2010-10-12T02:55:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\
**Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-penguin-classics-so-different/556855/1 "2010-10-12T02:55:46Z")

</div>

Why do some Penguin Classics have footnotes but others do not?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-penguin-classics-so-different/556855/2 "2010-10-12T12:47:40Z")

</div>

Can you give us examples of what you mean?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\
**Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-penguin-classics-so-different/556855/3 "2010-10-12T13:26:24Z")

</div>

Because the editor felt footnotes were needed for some but not others.

I am not sure what you are asking – Penguin Classics have been published since Og was painting on the walls of his cave. Different editors, different publication years, even stylistic concerns mean different decisions on what needs further explication.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**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:** [October 12, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-penguin-classics-so-different/556855/4 "2010-10-12T14:08:27Z")

</div>

There’s no good single answer. Some classics really require footnotes – _The Exeter Book Riddles_ and _The Stories of Edgar Allen Poe_ (especially things like _The Thousand and first Tale of Scheherazade_). Others you would think would profit from copious footnotes and and have very few. There tend to be a lot in the translations of classical works.

For some reason some, like _Moby Dick_, have admirable and copious notes, while others, like _War and Peace_, have much fewer. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to much of it.