Times, Times NR, and Starling: production results?

@oobimichael:
What has the type industry understood to be the more accurate history relating to Times: the conventional story or MP's version ?

In my opinion, one can't really say anything about what is accurate.

We know that there was a type design by Starling that in some way resembled Times Roman, as well as predating it.

Of course, there was also the "official" precursor to Times Roman, Plantin.

And recently it's been noted that another font had a bit of a resemblance to Times, although it had a number of eccentricities... (Couldn't remember the name or find the thread, but it came up again now - Aries, by Eric Gill.)