It is common practice in UK and US versions of books to American-ise or Anglicise the spellings. Most British books, when published in the States, will have honour changed to honor, metre to meter and so on. I think the effective hegemony of American publishing in English today means that the opposite will be rarer, but may have been the case when 'The Catcher in the Rye' was first published. It is insidious, in that few of us notice it unless we are in the habit of buying books on both sides of the pond (something I have been doing with greater frequency over the last year), but I do not believe it is any more sinister than, say, the modernising of spelling in, say, Jane Austen to improve comprehension. (For instance, Austen used the form 'shew' instead of 'show', but only a language historian would see the need for the continuation of that spelling in modern editions of her works.)

Having said which, the effect is sometimes more pronounced. Stephen Jay Gould wrote a book called 'Full House' (with the pun on poker and so on), which was published in the UK under the title 'Life's Grandeur'. The author himself was, presumably, so embarrassed by this that he added a small note to it explaining this change (which is the only reason why I picked up on it). We have also had a thread on this board earlier regarding the excellent Harry Potter series, and the change in title from UK to US versions from 'the Philosopher's Stone' to the 'Sorceror's Stone'.

Interesting thought, though.

cheer

the sunshine warrior