More Copyright Records

More copyright records related to Holmes Basic:

Monster & Treasure Assortment Set 1, included in the 1st edition Holmes set:

     This has a 2/15/77 publication date, indicating it was available before the Holmes Set. I've always had that impression, probably from something written on the Acaeum. M&TA Set 2 has the same publication date in the database, but Set 3 is listed as being published 5/10/78. This matches the Acaeum, which records a 1978 copyright date for Set 3. Was there really more than a year between the publication of the first two sets and the third one?

Edit: These dates do fit with the product lists for the first three printings of the Holmes rulebook. The first (1977) and second printing (Jan 1978) list the first two M&TA sets listed with prices (i.e., available for purchase), with the third as a "Future Release". The third printing (May 1978) has the third M&TA now listed with a price.

     The database doesn't have a record for the Dungeon Geomorphs Set 1, which was also included in the early Holmes sets. The Acaeum records a 1976 date for this product, which means that it may have been registered before the Copyright Office electronic records begin in 1978. Geomorphs Set II and III each have a 9/21/77 date, after the Basic Set.

Edit: On the other hand, all three Geomorphs sets are listed as available starting with first printing of the Holmes rulebook.

B1 In Search of the Unknown, included in the 2nd edition Holmes Set:

     This record indicates a 3/13/79 publication date. This seems late, as the 2nd Edition Holmes Basic rulebook is dated Nov 1978 on the title page, and also refers to B1 by name on page 39. On the other hand, the copyright information in the B1 module itself is dated 1979. Perhaps the Holmes Set that included the 2nd Edition rulebook and B1 was not actually available until March '79? Alternately, the B1 copyright record is incorrect, as the Acaeum seems to assume (dating the first print of B1 to Nov 78 despite the 1979 date). It's hard to know how accurate the registration records are, particularly because some of them were registered long after the fact; for example this B1 record was registered in 1983. Dragon magazine #22 (Feb '78) has a full-page advertisement for B1 but this doesn't really provide evidence either way.

B2 The Keep on the Borderlands, included in the 3rd edition Holmes Set:

     This record indicates a 7/2/80 publication date. This is also much later than I'd previously thought for B2. Again, the associated rulebook (3rd edition Bluebook) has a much earlier title page date (Dec 1979). And again, the module itself list the next year (here, 1980) for the copyright date, and the Acaeum indicates that it must be wrong. I'm not really sure. But if the 1st print of B2 didn't come out in July 1980, that doesn't leave much time for it be for sale until the Moldvay set comes out with a revised version (Feb 81, according to the copyright info).