Philosophical Question

[lavenderbard]

When transcribing someone’s Juvenilia, should one preserve the spelling errors, or not?

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Comments

[lavenderbard]

I guess that's my problem, I don't really know why its worth transcribing: maybe it isn't.

It's actually my juvenilia. I've got a lot of it (a bank box full of hand-written mss -- mostly incomplete) and my daughter has offered to "transcribe it all" for me, clearly not having any idea of just how huge that task would be.

I love the thought of having it available in some kind of electronic format. But at the same time, I can't really figure out what the point of hanging on to it all is.

(Which doesn't mean I'm willing to get rid of it, of course. I think it would take the house burning down, or a tornado or something.)

[lizvogel]

Well, you'll take my early scribblings away from me when you pry my cold, dead fingers from the pages, and you'd better bring a crowbar at that. So I completely understand.

If electronic format is appealing, then searchability might be a factor, which would argue for fixing the spelling.

Or you could just cop out and leave it to the daughter's judgment. ;-) If the task doesn't make her flee screaming, maybe she'll have some insight on what the result is for.