Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2021 May 4

= May 4 =

What ship evacuated Roy Campbell from Spain?
Our article on Roy Campbell says "On 9 August 1936, the Campbells boarded HMS Maine, which was evacuating British subjects to Marseilles". This is referenced to Joseph Pearce: Unafraid of Virginia Woolf (ISI Books, Wilmington, Delaware: 2004), p. 247. Now I do not believe there was ever an HMS Maine. There was an RFA Maine which served as a hospital ship in the Mediterranean Fleet. Was she the ship that carried the Campbells? Thank you, DuncanHill (talk) 19:50, 4 May 2021 (UTC)


 * British Government Maritime Evacuations in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939 cites the hospital ship HMS Maine (on page 13), and here's a photo of the "non-existent" blighter . Clarityfiend (talk) 22:06, 4 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Ah, that photo is for RFA Maine. Clarityfiend (talk) 22:08, 4 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Okay, this site says it was RFA Maine (1902). Clarityfiend (talk) 22:19, 4 May 2021 (UTC)
 * The Maine in Spain sailed mainly from ... the plain? Valencia on 5 August and Barcelona on 21 August 1936. Clarityfiend (talk) 22:14, 4 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Or the arrow plain. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 11:51, 5 May 2021 (UTC)
 * I have spent a rainy afternoon expanding the RFA Maine (1902) article. Apparently, the oldest wartime hospital ship of any nation. Alansplodge (talk) 19:24, 8 May 2021 (UTC)

Is Thames Publishing the same as Thames & Hudson?
Is Thames Publishing the same as Thames & Hudson? See for instance these publications:



- Aza24 (talk) 23:37, 4 May 2021 (UTC)


 * No, no connexion. Thames was, at one time at least, part of Purnell and Sons. DuncanHill (talk) 23:48, 4 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Thank you ! Would you say a redirect to Purnell and Sons makes sense, or should I just stick with the red link? Aza24 (talk) 00:37, 5 May 2021 (UTC)
 * I'd stick with the red link, for now - I don't have what we would call a reliable source to add Thames to the Purnells page, and without it being mentioned there it would be confusing to readers to have the redirect. It would have ended up as part of Maxwell's BPCC. There's no real need to link the publisher in a citation, especially when you have an ISBN. DuncanHill (talk) 00:51, 5 May 2021 (UTC)


 * The "Thames Publishing" that focussed on music was founded in 1970 by journalist John Bishop, The current Thames Publishing is unrelated. There has also been an earlier unrelated "The Thames Publishing Co.", and I have the impression this is the one that used Purnell and Sons (not a publisher but a printer) for printing their titles. As Bishop's widow set up her own publishing company not long after her husband's death, it is possible that the original company, run as a one-person affair, was discontinued. --Lambiam 09:25, 5 May 2021 (UTC)
 * The Thames Publishing Co was owned by Purnell's, rather than using them as a printer. See the letter from the literary agents A. P. Watt & Son here. I hadn't realised the music publisher was separate. DuncanHill (talk) 09:35, 5 May 2021 (UTC)