> if he had "revisited his early work".

Given that you're a researcher yourself I'm surprised by this comment. Have you not yourself experienced the harsh rejection of "not novel"? That sounds like a great way to get stuck in review hell. (I know I've experienced this even when doing novel things just by too closely relating it to other methodologies when explaining "oh, it's just ____").

The other part seems weird too. Who isn't upset when their work doesn't get recognized and someone else gets credit. Are we not all human?