historical collation: A record of variants for a given text over some defined number of editions (e.g., from the first through the seventh editions) or some period of time (e.g., from) different impressions of the same edition made between 1884 and 1891). The purpose of historical collations is to put before the reader as complete a record as possible of all variants among a group of texts from which the editor has had to choose. In the past, but only to save space, historical collations have tended to omit variant accidentals and confine themselves to a record of variant substantives.