Edited=Abridged?

[Rotty1021]

As a very finnicky reader, I am not one who likes to be cut short on the good stuff by abridged novels. I have on my hands a Penguin edition of Great Expectations, and it says that it was "edited with notes" by Charlotte Mitchell. Does this mean that the novel was cut short, or abridged? By the way, the book is a little over 500 pages. Thanks for your help.

[Eloise]

Edited doesn't always mean abridged. I'm not sure about Dickens, but I know with Jane Austen there are multiple early versions of the text, manuscripts, idiosyncratic spellings, editions published during the author's lifetime with corrections by her etc and where there are variations in the text, usually minor, the editor chooses which one to use. The notes in the back may tell you where and what has been edited, also there is often an editors note somewhere which will tell you what their basic editing philosophy was.

[Rotty1021]

Thanks, Eloise. I'll be sure to search my copy for such information.