Rivaled in its success only by The Mikado, Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera HMS Pinafore continues to rank among the most popular works by the famed duo of librettist and songwriter. Popular from the start, the work contains some of Gilbert's most clever flashes of wit and a number of Sullivan's most charming melodies. Moreover, Gilbert's satirical attitude toward matters nautical during England's Victorian era and Sullivan's parody of "sea music" are enjoyed and appreciated today as much as they were over 100 years ago. For this edition, music scholars Carl Simpson and Ephraim Hammett Jones have drawn on original manuscripts and early sources to produce handsome newly engraved plates closest to Gilbert and Sullivan's original intentions. The result is an authoritative and inexpensive edition certain to delight Gilbert and Sullivan fans, operetta lovers, musicians, and students. Dover Original. Introduction by the editors. Instrumentation.