Is a Modern Library title
ever abridged?

Early on Modern Library tried to present only unabridged editions. For example, in the 1930's most Modern Library books carried a blurb promising that "Every reader of books will find titles he has been looking for, handsomely printed, in unabridged editions, at an unusually low price." And they succeeded in a number of cases, one of the most famous being James Joyce's "Ulysses." But many editions were indeed abridged.

Some editions were bowdlerized (the1918 edition of Gautier's "Mademoiselle de Maupin") or, while perhaps complete, were considered poor translations. A major force in deciding what works to use was whether a piece was available without having to pay royalties or how to keep royalty costs down, which meant that certain practical compromises needed to be made from time to time.

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