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[Next Project] Short Fiction and The Room at the Dragon Volant by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

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Christopher Hapka

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Aug 31, 2024, 11:21:35 AM8/31/24
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I already went over some of the issues with Le Fanu's stories in this thread. Here's a summary:

For this project, I'll be including all stories by Le Fanu under 40,000 words, including the ones currently published in our edition of In a Glass Darkly. I'll also be preparing a separate publication for The Room at the Dragon Volant from In a Glass Darkly, which is over our 40,000 word limit.

The trickiest bit of this project is that Le Fanu published almost all of his stories anonymously. I'll be following the judgment of M.R. James, an early champion of Le Fanu who edited a collection of his stories and prepared an early bibliography, and of Gary Crawford, who wrote the standard modern bibliography, as to which stories are actually by Le Fanu.

Here is my spreadsheet listing the text and image sources. There are seven stories that will need new transcriptions, plus three where the only source is from PG-Australia that will need to be carefully compared to the image sources to ensure that they match it exactly, or else newly transcribed if it's clear they're too different for that to be practical.

Alex Cabal

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Aug 31, 2024, 12:15:28 PM8/31/24
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OK, doesn't look like too bad of a list. You can re use the cover for In
a Glass Darkly if you want.

On 8/31/24 10:21 AM, Christopher Hapka wrote:
> I already went over some of the issues with Le Fanu's stories in this
> thread
> <https://groups.google.com/g/standardebooks/c/I5S0unYmnqU/m/ywu4qagLBAAJ>. Here's a summary:
>
> For this project, I'll be including all stories by Le Fanu under 40,000
> words, including the ones currently published in our edition of In a
> Glass Darkly. I'll also be preparing a separate publication for The Room
> at the Dragon Volant from In a Glass Darkly, which is over our 40,000
> word limit.
>
> The trickiest bit of this project is that Le Fanu published almost all
> of his stories anonymously. I'll be following the judgment of M.R.
> James, an early champion of Le Fanu who edited a collection of his
> stories and prepared an early bibliography, and of Gary Crawford, who
> wrote the standard modern bibliography, as to which stories are actually
> by Le Fanu.
>
> Here is my spreadsheet
> <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1O1a33gw9qJ74NWj-YMBxPJ6Vany3hhGxIRRTqjJmVLw/edit?usp=sharing> listing the text and image sources. There are seven stories that will need new transcriptions, plus three where the only source is from PG-Australia that will need to be carefully compared to the image sources to ensure that they match it exactly, or else newly transcribed if it's clear they're too different for that to be practical.
>
> --
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Christopher Hapka

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Sep 1, 2024, 1:38:35 AM9/1/24
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I might do that; there's a good portrait of Le Fanu by his son, the artist Brinsley Le Fanu, that I was hoping to use instead, but I haven't been able to dig up any proof of publication.

Christopher Hapka

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Sep 4, 2024, 6:43:54 AM9/4/24
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Christopher Hapka

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Sep 10, 2024, 6:06:21 AM9/10/24
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I don't think there's a manager or reviewer assigned for this yet? This is probably a question for Alex anyway, though.

I have one question about inclusion. One of Le Fanu's best known stories is "Madam Crowl's Ghost." He wrote it as a standalone story and that's how it was first published, in 1870. Also in that year, he published a less well known novel called "A Strange Adventure in the Life of Miss Laura Mildmay". So far so good, these are two separate texts.

Then in 1871, Le Fanu published a triple-decker called "Chronicles of Golden Friars." It was only ever published in one small edition and is now extremely rare (€1,000 and up on used sites), his bibliographer calls it "Le Fanu's rarest work," and the volume with Laura Mildmay in it is not available digitally. Chronicles of Golden Friars was a mash-up of three previously published, unrelated novels, including "Mildmay." In "Mildmay," Le Fanu added a chapter called "A Ghost Story" in which several characters sit around in a kitchen while an old woman tells them the story of "Madam Crowl's Ghost," pretty much word for word as it was published as a story.

Since then, Laura Mildmay has been pretty much forgotten. I've only found one reprinting, in 1947, which does keep the "Madam Crowl's Ghost" chapter.

But in 1923, M.R. James started the revival in interest in Le Fanu by publishing a book of stories called "Madam Crowl's Ghost and Other Tales of Mystery," with Madam Crowl's Ghost as the first story, and it's one that's always included in Le Fanu collections.

Would it be okay to include this story in Short Fiction, even though it was later incorporated into a novel? It's a well enough known story that it would seem strange to leave it out, and it's unlikely Laura Mildmay is even going to be available to add to SE any time soon.

Alex Cabal

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Sep 10, 2024, 10:36:43 PM9/10/24
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Yes, you can include the version of the story that was published before
1929. If Chronicles of Golden Friars is just a mashup of previously
published work then I don't think we would produce it at all.
> <https://github.com/chapkachapka/j-sheridan-le-fanu_short-fiction>
>
> The Room in the Dragon Volant
> <https://github.com/chapkachapka/j-sheridan-le-fanu_the-room-in-the-dragon-volant>
>
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Alex Cabal

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Sep 10, 2024, 10:37:53 PM9/10/24
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Emma can you manage this with Lukas reviewing?

On 9/10/24 5:06 AM, Christopher Hapka wrote:
> <https://github.com/chapkachapka/j-sheridan-le-fanu_short-fiction>
>
> The Room in the Dragon Volant
> <https://github.com/chapkachapka/j-sheridan-le-fanu_the-room-in-the-dragon-volant>
>
> --
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Lukas Bystricky

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Sep 11, 2024, 3:18:05 PM9/11/24
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I can review


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Christopher Hapka

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Sep 12, 2024, 10:01:59 AM9/12/24
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A formatting question:

One of the stories in the collection, Sir Dominick's Bargain, is structured as:

5-6 pages of setup where the narrator meets the storyteller
10-12 pages of the storyteller telling the story to the narrator
A few paragraphs of conclustion.

At the end of the introductory bit, the storyteller starts talking. There's one paragraph with an opening quote mark, and after that, even though it's clearly the same person still talking, there are no more running opening quotes, and dialogue within the story is quoted as usual. There are a few interjections by the main narrator, given as parentheticals.

At the end of the story, there's no transition; just the last paragraph of story, and a few paragraphs from the frame narrator's point of view. 

Here's the image for page 187, where the main story starts, and here's the last page, with the transition from the story back to the frame narrative.

I could just put an ignore entry for that first opening quote mark and leave it as is, but I think it would be cleaner to editorially delete the opening quote and instead insert an <hr> tag at the beginning and end of the story-within-the-story. Thoughts?

Alex Cabal

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Sep 12, 2024, 12:05:50 PM9/12/24
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I think putting an <hr> before and after the frame story would be fine.
You can remove the opening quote in that case.

On 9/12/24 9:01 AM, Christopher Hapka wrote:
> A formatting question:
>
> One of the stories in the collection, Sir Dominick's Bargain, is
> structured as:
>
> 5-6 pages of setup where the narrator meets the storyteller
> 10-12 pages of the storyteller telling the story to the narrator
> A few paragraphs of conclustion.
>
> At the end of the introductory bit, the storyteller starts talking.
> There's one paragraph with an opening quote mark, and after that, even
> though it's clearly the same person still talking, there are no more
> running opening quotes, and dialogue within the story is quoted as
> usual. There are a few interjections by the main narrator, given as
> parentheticals.
>
> At the end of the story, there's no transition; just the last paragraph
> of story, and a few paragraphs from the frame narrator's point of view.
>
> Here's the image
> <https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31175024507496&seq=203> for
> page 187, where the main story starts, and here's the last page
> <https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31175024507496&seq=215>,
> with the transition from the story back to the frame narrative.
>
> I could just put an ignore entry for that first opening quote mark and
> leave it as is, but I think it would be cleaner to editorially delete
> the opening quote and instead insert an <hr> tag at the beginning and
> end of the story-within-the-story. Thoughts?
>
> --
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Christopher Hapka

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Sep 13, 2024, 10:20:32 AM9/13/24
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A passage from "Spalatro":

the date they recorded was that of more than a century before; yet the portrait was undoubtedly
his. It was a perfect likeness—character, expression, every thing—it was a fac simile of the original.

Am I right in thinking I should modernize "fac simile" to "facsimile" and drop the italics? I'm having to do that a lot with words Le Fanu considered foreign, like "brusque," but this one seemed like a more significant change, so I thought it was worth checking.


Alex Cabal

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Sep 13, 2024, 1:35:22 PM9/13/24
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Yes

On 9/13/24 9:20 AM, Christopher Hapka wrote:
> A passage from "Spalatro":
>
> *the date they recorded was that of more than a century before; yet the
> portrait was undoubtedly
> his. It was a perfect likeness—character, expression, every thing—it was
> a /fac simile/ of the original.*
> *
> *
> Am I right in thinking I should modernize "fac simile" to "facsimile"
> and drop the italics? I'm having to do that a lot with words Le Fanu
> considered foreign, like "brusque," but this one seemed like a more
> significant change, so I thought it was worth checking.
>
>
> --
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Christopher Hapka

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Sep 29, 2024, 6:47:17 AM9/29/24
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Still plugging away at this. As suggested, I'm using the existing cover art from In a Glass Darkly as the cover for the omnibus.

For Dragon Volant, I was thinking of this:

cover.png
 It's CC0 at Paris Musées.  The Dragon Volant is a French inn, and this was the closest I could find to a vaguely foreboding French innyard. 
 

Alex Cabal

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Sep 30, 2024, 6:07:33 PM9/30/24
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That works, I'll add it to the database

On 9/29/24 5:47 AM, Christopher Hapka wrote:
> Still plugging away at this. As suggested, I'm using the existing cover
> art from In a Glass Darkly as the cover for the omnibus.
>
> For Dragon Volant, I was thinking of this:
>
> cover.png
>  It's CC0 at Paris Musées
> <https://www.parismuseescollections.paris.fr/fr/musee-carnavalet/oeuvres/le-porche-de-l-auberge-du-cheval-blanc-rue-mazet#infos-principales>.  The Dragon Volant is a French inn, and this was the closest I could find to a vaguely foreboding French innyard.
>
> --
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Christopher Hapka

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Oct 7, 2024, 6:21:48 AM10/7/24
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Two questions I ran across while preparing (re-preparing) The Room at the Dragon Volant.

1. The book takes place in France, and there's a chapter called "The Parc of the Chateau de la Carque." The printed version uses "parc" in the title, but only "park" occurs in the text. My instinct is to leave this alone; it's a French word rather than an archaic one. Should I instead "correct" the chapter title?

2. There's a passage set in Versailles where Le Fanu writes about:

...the enormous perspective of the "Grand Galerie des Glaces," lighted up on that occasion...

This is the name of a room at the Palace of Versailles. The MOS says:

--Place names aren't quoted, so remove the quotation marks per 8.2.11.1
--Proper names aren't italicised, so no italics per 8.2.9.2
--But it still needs language coding per 5.3.1.1

So I need to delete the quotation marks and wrap it in a span with an xml:lang attribute, is that right?

Alex Cabal

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Oct 9, 2024, 5:51:32 PM10/9/24
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Emma, thoughts?

On 10/7/24 5:21 AM, Christopher Hapka wrote:
> Two questions I ran across while preparing (re-preparing) The Room at
> the Dragon Volant.
>
> 1. The book takes place in France, and there's a chapter called "The
> Parc of the Chateau de la Carque." The printed version uses "parc" in
> the title, but only "park" occurs in the text. My instinct is to leave
> this alone; it's a French word rather than an archaic one. Should I
> instead "correct" the chapter title?
>
> 2. There's a passage set in Versailles where Le Fanu writes about:
>
> ...the enormous perspective of the "Grand Galerie des Glaces," lighted
> up on that occasion...
>
> This is the name of a room at the Palace of Versailles. The MOS says:
>
> --Place names aren't quoted, so remove the quotation marks per 8.2.11.1
> <https://standardebooks.org/manual/1.8.0/8-typography#8.2.11.1>
> --Proper names aren't italicised, so no italics per 8.2.9.2
> <https://standardebooks.org/manual/1.8.0/8-typography#8.2.9.2>
> --But it still needs language coding per 5.3.1.1
> <https://standardebooks.org/manual/1.8.0/single-page#5.3.1.1>
>
> So I need to delete the quotation marks and wrap it in a span with an
> xml:lang attribute, is that right?
>
> --
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Emma Sweeney

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Oct 10, 2024, 2:09:18 PM10/10/24
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1. Leave the title as-is. You can tag "Parc" and "Château de la Carque" with `<span xml:lang="fr">`.

2. You can remove the quotes. Tag the name with `<span xml:lang="fr">`.


Emma

Christopher Hapka

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Oct 12, 2024, 4:42:14 AM10/12/24
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There is a story in this collection that has a lot of discussion of regimental history of a certain barracks in Dublin, and all of the regimental names are italicised. My instinct is to treat these like pub names (also italicised in this same story) and dump the italics. Would it also make sense to add quotes for clarity?

Example:

It was for a good while the head-quarters of the 92nd, or Gordon Highlanders, so truly described in Captain Grant's charming romance.

->

It was for a good while the head-quarters of the 92nd, or "Gordon Highlanders," so truly described in Captain Grant's charming romance.

Emma Sweeney

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Oct 12, 2024, 5:18:33 AM10/12/24
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According to CEMoS 8.112, the regimental names are not italicized or quoted. You can just get rid of the italics.

CEMoS also states that "ordinal numbers designating military units are spelled out if one hundred or less" (CEMoS 9.47).


Emma

Christopher Hapka

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Oct 25, 2024, 4:56:58 AM10/25/24
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I don't see this spelled out in SEMoS and wanted to double check.

SEMoS 8.7.2.1 says semicolons go outside quotation marks except at the end of a passage of dialogue. Does this logic also apply to em-dashes?  Some of my source texts for this collection have em dashes outside of the closing quote in this situation, e.g.:

<p>...I have discovered.”</p>
<p>“What! the”⁠—</p>
<p>“Yes, the tincture that can prolong life to virtual immortality...</p>

Should I move these dashes inside the quotes? I don't have access to CMOS but all of the online discussion I've seen suggests I should.

Alex Cabal

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Oct 25, 2024, 12:20:31 PM10/25/24
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Yes

On 10/25/24 3:56 AM, Christopher Hapka wrote:
> I don't see this spelled out in SEMoS and wanted to double check.
>
> SEMoS 8.7.2.1
> <https://standardebooks.org/manual/1.8.0/8-typography#8.7.2.1> says
> semicolons go outside quotation marks except at the end of a passage of
> dialogue. Does this logic also apply to em-dashes?  Some of my source
> texts for this collection have em dashes outside of the closing quote in
> this situation, e.g.:
>
> <p>...I have discovered.”</p>
> <p>“What! the”⁠—</p>
> <p>“Yes, the tincture that can prolong life to virtual immortality...</p>
>
> Should I move these dashes inside the quotes? I don't have access to
> CMOS but all of the online discussion
> <https://cmosshoptalk.com/2021/05/11/prose-interrupted-signaling-breaks-in-dialogue/> I've seen suggests I should.
>
> --
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Christopher Hapka

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Oct 26, 2024, 2:26:57 PM10/26/24
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A few question on italics; Le Fanu used italics for everything. I've already dealt with most of the <i> tags, but there are a few that I'm not sure how to handle.

1. "...which she did with a <i xml:lang="ga">cead mille failthe</i> from the heart of a Connaught woman, and the <i>boosom</i> of Ireland."
"...he would begin to swear and curse at her for a <i>diddled</i> old mischief-maker"

There are a few instances like this, where italics are used to indicate a dialect word. Would quotation marks make more sense here? Or would this be treated like a "new term" under 8.2.10.1?

2. "Their leader was Major Cameron, <i>the Fassifern</i>, who ended his career of glory at Waterloo..."
“He’s saying <i>Scroope</i> every minute, whatever he means by that, and⁠–⁠and⁠–⁠hisht!⁠–⁠listen⁠–⁠there’s the handle again,”
"the young lady was decidedly plain, though good-humoured looking, with that style of features which is termed <i>potato</i>;"

There are a lot of similar issues, where the italics represent a word or phrase and my instinct is to replace them with quotation marks--is that appropriate?


Emma Sweeney

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Oct 26, 2024, 9:35:30 PM10/26/24
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1. Le Fanu doesn't define "boosom" or "diddled", so neither quotes nor <i> elements apply according to 8.2.10.1. The best option is using <em> elements. It looks like "boosom" could be modernized to "bosom".

2. "The Fassifern" looks like a nickname; you can use <em>. Scroope isn't defined either and doesn't look like a sound, so <em> would be best. "Potato" is being defined and composed of common English; you can convert the italics to quotes.

I can't say for sure what is the appropriate action for other words or phrases without looking at them. It seems like most of the instances would stay italicized unless the manual says something should be quoted or doesn't need italics (like non-English proper names).


Emma

Alex Cabal

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Oct 28, 2024, 12:38:17 PM10/28/24
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The Fassifern can be quoted since we're introducing a name or title

On 10/26/24 8:35 PM, Emma Sweeney wrote:
> 1. Le Fanu doesn't define "boosom" or "diddled", so neither quotes nor
> <i> elements apply according to 8.2.10.1
> <https://standardebooks.org/manual/1.8.0/single-page#8.2.10.1>. The best
> option is using <em> elements. It looks like "boosom" could be
> modernized to "bosom".
>
> 2. "The Fassifern" looks like a nickname; you can use <em>. Scroope
> isn't defined either and doesn't look like a sound, so <em> would be
> best. "Potato" is being defined and composed of common English; you can
> convert the italics to quotes.
>
> I can't say for sure what is the appropriate action for other words or
> phrases without looking at them. It seems like most of the instances
> would stay italicized unless the manual says something should be quoted
> or doesn't need italics (like non-English proper names).
>
>
> Emma
> On Saturday, October 26, 2024 at 2:26:57 PM UTC-4 ch...@hapka.com wrote:
>
> A few question on italics; Le Fanu used italics for /everything.
> /I've already dealt with most of the <i> tags, but there are a few
> that I'm not sure how to handle.
>
> 1. "...which she did with a <i xml:lang="ga">cead mille failthe</i>
> from the heart of a Connaught woman, and the <i>boosom</i> of Ireland."
> "...he would begin to swear and curse at her for a <i>diddled</i>
> old mischief-maker"
>
> There are a few instances like this, where italics are used to
> indicate a dialect word. Would quotation marks make more sense here?
> Or would this be treated like a "new term" under 8.2.10.1
> <https://standardebooks.org/manual/1.8.0/single-page#8.2.10.1>?
>
> 2. "Their leader was Major Cameron, <i>the Fassifern</i>, who ended
> his career of glory at Waterloo..."
> “He’s saying <i>Scroope</i> every minute, whatever he means by that,
> and⁠–⁠and⁠–⁠hisht!⁠–⁠listen⁠–⁠there’s the handle again,”
> "the young lady was decidedly plain, though good-humoured looking,
> with that style of features which is termed <i>potato</i>;"
>
> There are a lot of similar issues, where the italics represent a
> word or phrase and my instinct is to replace them with quotation
> marks--is that appropriate?
>
>
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Christopher Hapka

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Nov 9, 2024, 8:20:01 AM11/9/24
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I know we modernize "every one" to "everyone" to reflect current usage, but should I do the same in reverse? There's a passage in one of the stories where a character says:

"...D⁠⸺ my soul, if I am come here to be played with like a child, and by the Almighty ⸻ you shall hear more of this, each and everyone of you, before I’m satisfied.”

It seems to me modern usage is to split up "every one" in that context, right?

Lukas Bystricky

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Nov 9, 2024, 8:32:13 AM11/9/24
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Yes, you should correct that.


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Christopher Hapka

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Nov 26, 2024, 6:14:44 AM11/26/24
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I have some passages in French that are not in italics in the original source, and I'm adding italics per the MOS. It's mixed English and French:

<p>“Madame,” cried she, in a high key, “<i xml:lang="fr">restez ici, s’il vous plait; votre chambre n’est pas faite</i>⁠—your room is not ready for your reception yet.”</p>

I'm not italicising the initial "Madame," which could be either French or English but is obviously in M-W; does that make sense?

Alex Cabal

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Nov 26, 2024, 11:44:34 AM11/26/24
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Yup
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Christopher Hapka

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Feb 1, 2025, 4:13:49 AMFeb 1
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Should I modernize "anywise" to "any wise"? Context:

...of tampering in anywise with the plain rule of honesty...

Emma Sweeney

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Feb 1, 2025, 12:13:52 PMFeb 1
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No. MW shows anywise.

Emma

Christopher Hapka

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Feb 15, 2025, 5:33:20 AMFeb 15
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So there's a passage in one of the stories that reads:

“Husband!” unworthy as I believed the man to be, you would scarcely credit me were I to describe the sense of relief and delight with which my heart expanded as that one word met my eye.


I'm pretty sure this is some kind of typo, and I was thinking of pushing an editorial change adding an em-dash in between the first two words; just wanted a second opinion. I think that makes more sense than capitalising the U in "unworthy," which is the other obvious option.

Emma Sweeney

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Feb 15, 2025, 5:52:16 AMFeb 15
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No changes needed, this sentence is grammatically correct.

Emma

Christopher Hapka

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Mar 2, 2025, 12:39:55 PMMar 2
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Do we modernize "some time" to "sometime" when it means "at some unspecified point"? Examples from this book:

"We must all die some time, you know" 

"I’ll tell you⁠—I know I shall some time⁠—all about it"

"was not his name Lewis Pyneweck, some time grocer in <span epub:type="z3998:place">Shrewsbury</span>, and now prisoner in the jail of that town?"

--Chris

Emma Sweeney

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Mar 2, 2025, 1:35:49 PMMar 2
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I think these can stay the same.

Emma

Christopher Hapka

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Mar 31, 2025, 8:29:41 AMMar 31
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Most of the stories here are from the Dublin University Magazine, which Le Fanu edited. There's one in particular ("An Authentic Narrative of the Haunted House") with an editorial note as framing. It starts: "The Editor of the University Magazine submits the following very remarkable statement..." and ends with a brief blurb that is signed "--E.D.U.M." (presumably for "Editor, Dublin University Magazine").

I'd like to keep the frame, as it's really part of the story (Le Fanu being both the writer and the "editor")--but I don't think "E.D.U.M." will make sense to a reader in a collected edition where there's no mention of the Dublin University Magazine. Would it make sense to replace it with "Editor" or "The Editor"? Or just leave off the attribution entirely?


Emma Sweeney

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Mar 31, 2025, 11:28:08 AMMar 31
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Sure, you can keep this. You could expand the abbreviation as "Editor, Dublin University Magazine".

Emma

Christopher Hapka

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Apr 20, 2025, 5:40:51 AMApr 20
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Next up is this passage:

"Charlie’s a man, but that’s a jack-an-ape. He has no good-nature...."

1.  M-W has "jackanapes," which is a singular--no "jackanape," which would be the soundalike. Other dictionaries say "jackanape" is a back-formation. Is this archaic or idiomatic, and should I modernize it to either "jackanape" or "jackanapes"?

2. Should I also modernize "good-nature" to "good nature"?

My inclination is to modernize #2, but I'm stumped on #1.

--Chris

Emma Sweeney

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Apr 20, 2025, 3:04:29 PMApr 20
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Typically we don't change compound words that modernize spelling doesn’t fix. I would leave both alone.


Emma
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