definitive edition–a descriptive term that reached prominence in the 1970s to replace definitive text. It was meant to indicate that, taken as a whole–text and apparatus–a scholarly edition could represent definitive research which would never have to be done again, though the text itself might be re-edited according to differing principles.
definitive edition. A descriptive term that reached prominence in the 1970s to replace definitive text. It was meant that, taken as a whole–text and apparatus–a scholarly edition could represent definitive research that would never have to be done again, though the text itself might be re-edited according to differing principles.
Definitive edition. Once defined as an edition of an individual’s writings that was not only all-inclusive in scope but also so rigorous in textual methods that the reader would never have reason to consult the original materials on which those texts are based. Modern documentary editors are more realistic about the chances of achieving such perfection and usually use definitive as a synonym for authoritative.