*R* Feet of Clay
Dick Eney
In article <337B02...@strath.quack.duck>,
Leighton Pritchard <bap9...@strath.quack.duck> wrote:
>This probably ought to go to ABP, but for some reason my news server
>doesn't have it...
>
>In my paperback edition of Feet of Clay, sometimes (I'll have to look
>back at the flat to find the pages) the letter 'd' is replaced by the
>letters 'cl'. This almost reads smoothly, but is a very strange mistake
>to make unless you're not actually reading as you go along. Substituting
>'ancl' for 'and' is very odd, don't you think.
>
>Does anyone know why this happened?
>To reply by mail, please change the quack.duck in the Reply-To line to
>ac.uk
theory: I suspect that the paperback edition was done by scanning in the
hardback text rather than either getting it re-typeset or actually getting
on disk from the hardback publisher. OCR scanners might see 'd' as 'cl'
if the line connection between the round part and the upright is thin
enough; since it wasn't consistent, probably the ink was thinner on some
pages.
More proof that both proofreading and copyediting are becoming lost arts
due to the cheapness of publishers.
=Tamar (sharing account dick...@access.digex.net)
Margaret Tarbet
On 15 May 1997 12:29:11 -0400,
dick...@access2.digex.net (Tamar) wrote:
> theory: I suspect that the paperback edition was done by scanning in the
> hardback text rather than either getting it re-typeset or actually getting
> on disk from the hardback publisher. OCR scanners might see 'd' as 'cl'
> if the line connection between the round part and the upright is thin
> enough; since it wasn't consistent, probably the ink was thinner on some
> pages.
I'd make book that you're right, Tamar. That's certainly the
kind of error that my OCR makes regularly, along with in for m
(or vice versa) and other similar yins. I can improve it, or at
least shift what gets misread, but varying the scan density, and
the ocr package has some sanity checking built in, but it's
apparently not possible to do away with that class of error
altogether, short of nlp.
I note that, despite publishers' meanness in quality control, the
price of paperbacks (all i have even theoretical room for
anymore) continues to rise sharply. Predictable. I wonder when
the samizdat breakthrough will occur.
Paul Johnson
In article <5lfdkn$q...@access2.digex.net>, Dick Eney
<dick...@access2.digex.net> writes
>In article <337B02...@strath.quack.duck>,
>Leighton Pritchard <bap9...@strath.quack.duck> wrote:
>>In my paperback edition of Feet of Clay, sometimes (I'll have to look
>>back at the flat to find the pages) the letter 'd' is replaced by the
>>letters 'cl'.
>theory: I suspect that the paperback edition was done by scanning in the
>hardback text
I suspect that this is going to turn out to be a rare misprint. Look
after the book, and DON'T GET IT SIGNED.
Paul.
--------------------------------+---------------------------------
Paul Johnson | You are lost in a maze of twisty
Email: Pa...@treetop.demon.co.uk | little standards, all different.
paul.j...@gecm.com |
LNR
Paul Johnson <Pa...@treetop.demon.co.uk> wrote:
><dick...@access2.digex.net> Tamar! writes
>>Leighton Pritchard <bap9...@strath.quack.duck> wrote:
>>>In my paperback edition of Feet of Clay, sometimes (I'll have to look
>>>back at the flat to find the pages) the letter 'd' is replaced by the
>>>letters 'cl'.
>>theory: I suspect that the paperback edition was done by scanning in the
>>hardback text
>I suspect that this is going to turn out to be a rare misprint. Look
>after the book, and DON'T GET IT SIGNED.
It's certainly not rare. I've spotted it in my copy in at least two
places. It's obviously one of those things that's very hard to spot when
proofreading.
--
l...@lspace.org http://users.ox.ac.uk/~hert0145/Tazo/
Desperately seeking Tazos (see above site for list of swaps)
Tim Massingham
In article <4jt1DFAo...@treetop.demon.co.uk>,
Paul Johnson <Pa...@treetop.demon.co.uk> writes:
> In article <5lfdkn$q...@access2.digex.net>, Dick Eney
> <dick...@access2.digex.net> writes
>>In article <337B02...@strath.quack.duck>,
>
>>>In my paperback edition of Feet of Clay, sometimes (I'll have to look
>>>back at the flat to find the pages) the letter 'd' is replaced by the
>>>letters 'cl'.
>
>>theory: I suspect that the paperback edition was done by scanning in the
>>hardback text
>
> I suspect that this is going to turn out to be a rare misprint. Look
> after the book, and DON'T GET IT SIGNED.
that rare after all ;-)
--
Tim Massingham tl...@cam.ac.uk http://yuggoth.girton.cam.ac.uk/
"The knuckles! The Horrible knuckles!" The Light Fantastic, Terry Pratchett
ppint.
- hi; in afparticle, <5lrk23$a...@lyra.csx.cam.ac.uk>,
tl...@yuggoth.girton.cam.ac.uk "Tim Massingham" conjectured, and advised:
> In article <4jt1DFAo...@treetop.demon.co.uk>,
> Paul Johnson <Pa...@treetop.demon.co.uk> writes:
>> In article <5lfdkn$q...@access2.digex.net>,
>>> In article <337B02...@strath.quack.duck>,
>>> Leighton Pritchard <bap9...@strath.ac.uk> wrote:
>>
>>>>In my paperback edition of Feet of Clay, sometimes (I'll have to look
>>>>back at the flat to find the pages) the letter 'd' is replaced by the
>>>>letters 'cl'.
>>>hardback text
>>after the book, and DON'T GET IT SIGNED.
>
>pg 184 of the softback, third line down - I don't think it's going to be
>that rare after all ;-)
>
>
- rare ? - no; every printing of the corgi p/b will have it, until
or unless it is corrected in a later, reset edition. (- it could be
_fairly_ simply corrected, without resetting the entire text - but
publishers very rarely attempt to correct film error by individual
error.) - sorry...
- the text in the gollancz/cassell h/cvr edition gives it correctly
(1st edn. 1996, p.127, l.34), so it is an error introduced in the
corgi/transworld p/b.
- i don't *think* pterry's signed a majority of the print runs of
his books, even though some frozen pea days, it must feel like it -
leastways, not *yet*...
- love, ppint.
[to reply, please remove the initial "v" from the reply-to: line]
--
"We trained hard...but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form
up into teams we would be reorganised. I was to learn later in life that
we tend to meet any new situation by reorganising; and a wonderful method
it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion,
inefficiency, and demoralisation."
- Petronius Arbiter
Tim Green
Tim Massingham (tl...@yuggoth.girton.cam.ac.uk) wrote:
: In article <4jt1DFAo...@treetop.demon.co.uk>,
: Paul Johnson <Pa...@treetop.demon.co.uk> writes:
: > I suspect that this is going to turn out to be a rare misprint. Look
: > after the book, and DON'T GET IT SIGNED.
: pg 184 of the softback, third line down - I don't think it's going to be
: that rare after all ;-)
Oh, yeah! Hmm, maybe Pterry should have a quiet word with the quality
deptartment and prod some buttock :]