Hanging On: James Ellis, et al, 1970-1973

Late in 1970, VPN moved to University of Massachusetts, Amherst where James Ellis became lead editor, assisted by Richard Haven and Michael Wolff. Fortunately, by issue #10, 1970, some very hopeful statistics were published: RSVP counted 150 members at the end of its second year; VPN reported circulation at over 800, consisting of 500 individuals and 300 institutions; Bill Scheuerle's DNB project was nearly complete; and the VPP project counted 15,000 punch cards. Ellis, in "Remarks from a New Editor" offered two suggestions: that checklists should include "light journals" (such as those for theatre and the arts) as well as the serious ones being investigated by the Wellesley Index, and that British and American book dealers should be canvassed to search for runs of periodicals which might be available for purchase.

Throughout the Ellis years one finds continuing reports of RSVP conferences; repeated accounts of the VPP project; continuing bibliographic reports; the first book review, namely Newspapers of Northumberland and Durham by Maurice Milne (no. 15, March 1972), inaugurating a feature which became a large part of later issues; and the beginning of the "Notes and Queries" section. Walter Houghton continued his periodic reports on the progress and pitfalls of the Wellesley Index.

Perhaps the most significant measure of VPN's maturity was contained in the announcement (no. 15, March 1972) that the journal had stabilized itself as a quarterly to the extent it would in future record itself in volumes, rather than numbers, for each issue beginning with volume 5.

The content of these years was, admittedly, rather "thin." This was due to two features: 1) preoccupation with getting the VPP project firmly established and its eventual conversion to the Waterloo Directory, and 2) a continued monitoring of Houghton's Wellesley Index and its editorial problems. There were also conference announcements (RSVP's third, fourth, and fifth sessions) and occasional reprints. Perhaps the most important piece of research was Robert H. Tener's checklist of "The Writings of Richard Holt Hutton: A Checklist of Identifications" which occupied the whole of the no. 17 (Sept. 1972) issue. But mainly the content for these issues was pedestrian and what later editors would regard as "housekeeping," rather than scholarly leadership. However, this was through no fault of the editors, but rather a pause on the way to a greater maturity for the journal.