The Republic by Plato translation by Desmond Lee

Inspired by today's TriviaThing, I would like to add The Republic, the Penguin Classics one translated by Lee to my To Read (and to buy).

I found over on GR its AISN is 0140449140 and its ISBN is 9780140449143, but when I enter either in the LibraryThing search, it gives me a different translation, one by Grube.

How best can I find the exact one I want in order to add it to my To Read?

Enter republic, desmond lee in the search on the add books page and use Overcat as your source. Actually, using the ISBN you mention and Overcat also works, although many of the books in the first search have a different one.

You don't say which source you were using. You can add extra things to an add book search to help specify what edition you are looking for.

If you are planning on buying it soon, there might be some asvantage in waiting to enter it until you have purchased it to try to get your copy in accurately.

Bear in mind that the work for The Republic includes all translations.

>2 MarthaJeanne: Thank you, that worked perfectly for me. I had used the universal "Search LibraryThing" box at the top right of the major navigation bar. Didn't think of using the Add Books option but for my needs that worked infinitely better.

I like to add books I want as I think of them (else how am I ever going to remember, ha). I'll tweak the book after I get it, although I'm not terribly picky about the exact edition usually. Once I read most books, I donate them, so although I want it close, I don't worry much about revised editions, etc.

>2 MarthaJeanne: Uh oh. How did Edith Wharton show up? When I used the Add Book it showed the right book.

https://www.librarything.com/work/1077243/book/302162710

No idea, but there was an edition of 38 copies in there. Separated and properly combined.

No idea, but there was an edition of 38 copies in there. Separated and properly combined.

That URL may be wonky. Currently at https://www.librarything.com/work/1993/302162710 (My that's a low work number. Brt a certain early user named Tim has a copy.)

>6 MarthaJeanne: What do you recommend I do so I have Plato's Republic and not a Edith Wharton biography? Is there a place I can report this for someone can fix?

Go to your profile and get a new copy of your entry. I have already fixed it, but an old copy on your browser may still show the bad combination.

Why there was a group of Plato mixed into a Wharton work is anyone's guess, but it had been there long enough to collect 38 copies. It is now separated. Those copies are now in the work for Plato's Republic. Including your copy.

Like I said, this is fixed. Another time, you go into the Editions page and find the copy(s) that don't fit the work, ie your copy, and separate it, then combine it where it belongs. This is usually fairly simple to do. If you need help, you can ask in the Combiners group. https://www.librarything.com/ngroups/460/Combiners%21 Combiners will want the URL of the problem book.

>8 MarthaJeanne: Thank you for fixing that. I deleted the copy I had added, then tried Add Book again with the ISBN 9780140449143 (it shows Plato Republic during the add) but it was back to Wharton in my books. I deleted that and tried Add Book this time with the text "Plato republic desmond lee" and voila!

The added book shows ISBN 0140455116 / 9780140455113

So the ISBN I originally used is where the issue lies. Showing Plato in the Add Book but Wharton in the actual add.

I'm confused how that happens but am ever so grateful for your helping me!

Deleting and readding almost always makes matters worse, not better. Now there is a ghost copy in the Wharton work again, set to catch new entries.. I don't have the time or energy to go chasing it.

https://www.librarything.com/work/1077243

>11 MarthaJeanne: So sorry about that! Again, I find the machinations behind the scene confusing and didn't know what you wanted me to do. So I did what was logical (and wrong apparently) to me.

>12 DebiCates: 99 times out of 100, when you provide a link to a miscombined work and someone says it was fixed (as noted in >5 MarthaJeanne: and >6 MarthaJeanne:), then the original merged link is broken and will take you to an old cached page that no longer reflects the actual status of the book. You'd want to go back to your actual book in your library, and verify it moved properly. If you have the wrong book in your library, that's a different problem we can't fix.

>13 gilroy: Thank you. That explanation makes things clearer. I now see how what I did by re-adding it was put it back into the LT stream. I erroneously thought the problem was not on Amazon's side, but on LT. Thus, it could happen again, right? Not by me, but another person who might add that IBSN from Amazon (it has the right cover and description at that point).

By doing what I did, did that re-link all those 38 to the original bad data of the Wharton edition?