One of the dull but necessary tasks I do as a dance historian, right up/down there with reading terrible Victorian novels for their dance references, is comparing different editions of the same book to see what changed over time. Most of these comparisons aren't as exciting as, say, Dance Mad, which underwent enormous changes in less than a year in its second edition. But they're still useful for very fine-grained dance tracking, particularly in 1914 when things were changing very rapidly and the tango, maxixe, foxtrot, and half and half either originated or were enjoying bursts of popularity. And that's before even getting to the fad dances like the Lulu Fado, the Ta Tao, and the Furlana.
Comparing two editions of Caroline Walker's The Modern Dances is pretty tame in comparison, since the changes are mostly just in pagination and arrangement of photos, but it's still a useful window into how rapidly things were changing in 1914.
For reference, here are the known editions with their very helpful specific dates:
First - January 27, 1914
Second - February 12,1914
Third - March 20, 1914
That's impressively fast! The second and third editions were only five weeks apart, but apparently the major change, the addition of the Argentine Tango, was important enough to warrant not just an added section but also renumbering of the illustrations and having a few rephotographed completely to alter the recommended positions.
I own a copy of the second edition, and the third edition is available at the Library of Congress website. I have never seen a copy of the first edition, so I will be comparing only the second and third.
Going page by page:
The edition page: the third edition was added
The title page: The Tango (2nd ed) was renamed "The Tango, or One Step" and The Argentine Tango is added at the end.
The Table of Contents: along with The Argentine Tango being added, the pages were renumbered slightly from The Tango onward - in the second edition, it started on page 13, while in the third it started on page 11. The Dream Waltz started on page 61 in the second edition, but in the third, it started on page 55 and The Argentine Tango started on page 59.
Introduction and General Instructions: no changes
In the second edition, page 11 is blank, page 12 contains Illustration 1, and page 13 begins with The Tango, or One Step (despite it not being listed that way in the Table of Contents!). In the third edition, The Tango, or One Step begins on page 11 and Illustration 1 is on page 12, with the tango description continuing on page 13.
In the opening description of The Tango, or One-Step, the first two paragraphs are the same, but the last two were rewritten and broken into three. It looks like Walker became aware soon after publication of the second edition that she'd wildly misjudged the rising popularity of the tango, since she made a major about-face between the two editions, from "it is danced but little, and will doubtless never become the popular ball-room dance..." to "it is nevertheless becoming exceedingly popular for ball-room dancing."
Here are the texts, for comparison:
Second edition:
The real Tango is a South American folk dance. it is a slow, stately dance, done to four-four time--not ragtime. Its many figures are for the most part difficult, both of description and accomplishment, and for this reason it is being danced but little, and will doubtless never become the popular ball-room dance which the North American adaptation of it has become.
I therefore bow to common usage and teach the One Step as the Tango, because it is the dance which the majority of people recognize as the Tango.
Third edition:
The real Tango is a South American folk dance. it is a slow, stately dance, done to four-four time--not ragtime. Its many figures are for the most part difficult, both of description and accomplishment, but it is nevertheless becoming exceedingly popular for ball-room dancing.
I therefore bow to common usage and teach the One Step as the Tango, because it is the dance which the majority of people recognize as the Tango.
The real Tango, as taught on page 59, is distinguished by the caption "Argentine Tango."
The Library of Congress edition is missing pages 15 and 16, but I've no reason to suspect any changes in the text.
There are changes in page numbering and some minor rearrangement of the Illustrations throughout. Illustration 2 follows page 17 in both editions, but due to the repagination, page 19 in the second edition is page 17 in the third, putting the Illustration one page later relative to the text, which is itself unchanged.
Illustrations 3 is the same in both, but in the second edition it appears on page 22, and in the third, on pages 21.
Illustration 4 has been rephotographed in the third edition; in the second, the lady's head is turned toward the reader and her foot extends slightly beyond the hem of her dress. Her right hand appears to be on her hip, or perhaps holding her dress, but it's difficult to tell, as the dress blends into the backdrop.
Page 23 appears between Illustrations 3 and 4 in the second edition and after them in the third. The text is the same. Likewise, page 25 appears after Illustration 4 in the second edition and after Illustration 5 in the third. The Illustration and page text are the same. Since the Library of Congress edition has a tear at the bottom of page 25, here are the last two paragraphs of the Lame Duck description in full from the second edition:
The man starts forward with his right foot and the lady with her left, dipping as they take the next step. The dip is made by the man bending his right knee and the lady her left.
Repeat this figure straight down the room.
Other than continuing repagination and minor rearrangement of Illustrations, there are no changes until after the first page of The Walking Boston (p. 37 in the second edition and p. 35 in the third). In the second edition there is an additional Illustration, 11, which was deleted in the third. It depicts a single gentleman demonstrating the balance step, specifically the swing backward, with his forward foot rising slightly off the ground. In the second edition, the parenthetical "(See Illustration 11.)" appears after the sentence "This is done with one foot well in advance of the other." on the second page of the Walking Boston description (p. 39 in the second edition, p. 36 in the third).
From here onward, all Illustrations in the third edition are one number lower than in the second, and references in the text have been changed accordingly. I won't list all these changes individually.
Illustration 12 in the second edition has been rephotographed for the third, where it is Illustration 11. In the second, the arms are low and the dancers are looking down; in the third, the arms are at shoulder height and the dancers are looking straight ahead.
Illustration 13 in the second edition has also been rephotographed; rather than leaning slightly "over elbows" with arms lowered and the woman's left hand clutching his upper arm while her elbow appears to trap his arm against her body, in Illustration 12 in the third edition, the dancers are standing straight, arms are high, and her hand rests at his shoulder, her arm balanced lightly above his.
Page 56 of the second edition, page 53 of the third, has a change in where the text breaks; in the second edition it is after the line "foot forward and the lady on the man's left side", with the last three lines at the top of the next page. In the third edition it has all been squeezed onto the bottom of the page.
In the second edition, Illustration 20 is the dip in the Dream Waltz, and is the last illustration in the book. The text ends with the Dream Waltz on page 62.
In the third edition, the Dream Waltz illustration is Illustration 19, and Illustration 20, on page 58 is the first of the Argentine Tango. The text runs from page 59 to 63, where it ends after the seventh figure.
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