The Benson Murder Case, by S. S. Van Dine

[Brian]

Having transcribed this book for PG, I'd like to make a SE version.

PG: https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/70634
Hathi: https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/004679368
Repo: https://github.com/BR903/s-s-van-dine_the-benson-murder-case

[Alex Cabal]

OK! I imagine this will be a quick production since you already proofed
it. Emma can you manage with Vince reviewing?

On 5/22/23 4:15 PM, Brian wrote:
> Having transcribed this book for PG, I'd like to make a SE version.
>

> PG: https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/70634 <https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/70634>

> Hathi: https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/004679368
> <https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/004679368>
> Repo: https://github.com/BR903/s-s-van-dine_the-benson-murder-case

> <https://github.com/BR903/s-s-van-dine_the-benson-murder-case>
>
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[Norman Walz]

Just a quick question: I was wondering what the reason was for doing the transcription for Project Gutenberg since there is a transcription available on Faded Page. Is there a problem with the transcription available at Faded Page, or is it a case of having a transcription available from another source? Just wondering.  

[Brian]

Just a quick question: I was wondering what the reason was for doing the transcription for Project Gutenberg since there is a transcription available on Faded Page. Is there a problem with the transcription available at Faded Page, or is it a case of having a transcription available from another source? Just wondering.  

Just thoroughness, I guess? I knew from the outset that I wanted to

produce an SE version as well, which means that I would be doing a
full proofreading read-through anyway. It's been my experience that
when there is a transcription already available, doing a fresh
transcription doesn't add that much extra time to the whole process,
and really helps to catch errors that are hard to notice otherwise.
For example, I can now tell you that the Faded Page transcription has
29 differences from the 1926 printing. They're all minor, but there
are some that I doubt I would have caught in a normal proofreading
read-through. I know this process strikes some as masochistic, but for
me at least it's actually easier this way, in the final tally.

[Emma Sweeney]

Sure, I can manage.

Emma

[Vince]

PG’s transcriptions don't agree with a specific edition, either. Often, we (and they) don’t even know what edition PG’s transcriptions came from. Nor do we care. We only concern ourselves with actual errors, not minor differences.

We don’t care if you want to be masochistic, but we do care that no one follows your lead. :) Someone can:

1. Proof the book

or

1. Create a transcription and then

2. Proof the book

By definition, the latter is always going to take longer, and have more errors to catch in the proofing.

[Brian]

The typogrify tool automatically removes commas immediately preceding
an em dash. This book contains several instances of a comma coming
after an em dash, however, like for example:

    “Now that he’s left—which is what you obviously wanted—, and taken
    my keys with him, why not tell me what you’re thinking?”

The typogrify tool doesn't blink at this odd construction. Should
these commas be removed as well?

[Brian]

PS: Sorry, here's a link to an actual example in the scans:

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015002734245&view=1up&seq=312

(at the top of the page)

[Norman Walz]

Thanks for the explanation, Brian. 

I have a few PD domain books in mind that I'd like to see transcriptions made of. Maybe some day I'll try to do one myself. The PG standards are pretty strict, so I think I'll do a few more SE books first before attempting a PG transcription.

[Brian]

If it's not rude to post a second question while waiting on the first
one, I'd like to get some opinions on a possible cover image:

https://dams.birminghammuseums.org.uk/asset-bank/action/viewAsset?id=8312

It's Joseph Chamberlain, but hopefully his face isn't well-known
enough to be generally recognizable in 2023. (If there are any native
UK folks here who could weigh in, that'd be helpful.) It's an okay
match for Philo Vance, the book's protagonist, who noticeably sports a
monocle. The style of the clothes fit well, I think.

One possible issue are the leaves in his lapel. There's a bit of
banter early on where Philo Vance announces that he never wears a
boutonniere. They are initially talking about carnations, though, so
perhaps what Mr. Chamberlain is wearing wouldn't count as a
boutonniere per se? Not sure.

[Emma Sweeney]

Remove commas following em dashes.

I think this cover could work.

Emma

[Alex Cabal]

I think we should avoid portraits of political figures for covers. He
may be from the last century, but it would be as odd as having the
portrait of the mayor of Chicago in 1905 as the cover of an Agatha
Christie story. Wikipedia calls Chamberlain "the most important British
politician of his day, as well as a renowned orator and municipal reformer."

On 5/24/23 2:29 AM, Brian wrote:
> If it's not rude to post a second question while waiting on the first
> one, I'd like to get some opinions on a possible cover image:
>

> https://dams.birminghammuseums.org.uk/asset-bank/action/viewAsset?id=8312 <https://dams.birminghammuseums.org.uk/asset-bank/action/viewAsset?id=8312>

>
> It's Joseph Chamberlain, but hopefully his face isn't well-known
> enough to be generally recognizable in 2023. (If there are any native
> UK folks here who could weigh in, that'd be helpful.) It's an okay
> match for Philo Vance, the book's protagonist, who noticeably sports a
> monocle. The style of the clothes fit well, I think.
>
> One possible issue are the leaves in his lapel. There's a bit of
> banter early on where Philo Vance announces that he never wears a
> boutonniere. They are initially talking about carnations, though, so
> perhaps what Mr. Chamberlain is wearing wouldn't count as a
> boutonniere per se? Not sure.
>

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[Brian]

I think we should avoid portraits of political figures for covers.

Yep, fair point. Back to the stacks ...

[Brian]

At one point the word "bunjinga" is used.

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015002734245&seq=24

It's a Japanese art style, though it looks like the word itself
derives from a Chinese term. I suppose it's only a Chinese word in the
same way that Peking is a Chinese name, but I'm not sure what else it
would be. In any case, the term is not in Merriam-Webster.

However, marking up the italics with xml:lang="zh" (or "ja") changes
the font. (In one reader I tested on it switched to a sans serif font;
in another it kept the font but dropped the italics.) Seems like I
shouldn't use these language codes except to indicate actual Asian
characters.

How should this be marked up (if at all)?

[Robin Whittleton]

It’s a Japanese term, so it should be marked up as xml:lang=“ja-Latn”. That shouldn’t change the font?

-Robin

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[Brian]

It’s a Japanese term, so it should be marked up as xml:lang=“ja-Latn”. That shouldn’t change the font?

Thank you, that's exactly what I needed. 

[Brian]

Taking a different tack for a cover image ...

Paul Cézanne: "Still Life with Skull, Candle, and Book" (ca. 1866)
PD proof: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015014403284&seq=81

The painting's subject matter is not really specific to the story.
However: at the start of the novel, Philo Vance is up early in order
to purchase some Cézanne watercolors. Then he gets pulled into the
murder investigation, and misses out on them.

Cézanne actually did a few still lifes with skulls. I picked this one
because the murder victim is found with an open book in his right
hand.

So it's a bit a bank shot, subject-wise, but would this work as a
cover image?

(My other approach has been to look for images of early 20th-century
Manhattan. Unfortunately all the ones I've found PD proof for so far
don't work well as covers.)

[Emma Sweeney]

I think this looks too similar to The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner's cover with a skull and book.

Emma

[Brian]

Okay, so Cezanne is out, since nothing else he painted is relevant to
the setting of the novel.

My next idea is just a painting of Manhattan, hopefully one matching
the general neighborhood (i.e. not the central streets with the
skyscrapers).

This one is appropriate to the setting:

    https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/fifty-seventh-street-7971

It's a little short on detail, and cropping to fit the dimensions
leaves out a lot of night sky. But I think it has the right
impressionistic feeling to match Philo Vance's taste in art.

[Alex Cabal]

That one is already in use:
https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/voltairine-de-cleyre/short-fiction

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[Brian]

For my next attempt at a cover, I've been trying to find a painting
that would fit with the living room of the murder victim.

Near a corner of the room is a samovar on a small stand. It's a
worthwhile detail to pick out, because the samovar does yield a small
clue in the investigation -- but only to a side issue, not to the
murder itself. So its presence is relevant, but putting it on the
cover won't be a spoiler.

I found Peter Ilsted's "Interiør med en samovar. Aften", 1902:

    https://open.smk.dk/artwork/image/KMS1818

Attached is a possible cover, though I think I could improve the
cropping a bit. (The museum provides a very high-resolution image, so
there's room to improve the focus of the cover image.)

[Emma Sweeney]

That works!

Emma

[Brian]

Great!

(I think for my next book, I'm going to pick a novel about a young
woman who spends her time sitting and staring off into space while
wearing expensive clothes.)

[Brian]

This book is now ready to be reviewed.

[Vince]

Great, I’ll look at it in the next day or so.

[Vince]

Looks good, Brian, I opened an issue with a few minor formatting nits, and …

… one bigger one. We convert black-and-white line art images to SVG, which all four of these illustrations qualify. I thought someone had put together a “How to” guide for this, but I must have imagined it. If you have Inkscape available on your platform, it’s a free option that will do the tracing and save as SVG (I personally haven’t found it to work very well on Mac). If not, there are command-line options, just ping back here and one of us can help (David Grigg’s our resident expert, but there are a few of us that have had to do it enough that we should be able to help). SEMoS 10.2 provides some details on what the SVG’s should look like when they’re finished.

Note there is also additional CSS that should be added when you’re finished (see SEMoS 7.8.4).

[Brian]

We convert black-and-white line art images to SVG, which all four of these illustrations qualify.

Right! I was wondering about that. (SEMOS isn't explicit about when
images need to be converted.) By the time the book was ready, though,
it had completely slipped my mind.

I do have some hard-won experience with Inkscape, so I should be able
to fix this (relatively) quickly.

[Brian]

Issues addressed. This should be ready for re-review.

[Vince]

OK, Brian, a few additional minor (really!) things and it should be done.

[Vince]

Alex, I believe this is ready for you, with a couple of questions.

1. There are two scans, one from 1926, the other from 1930 (but also with a 1926 copyright). The 1930 edition has an epigraph, quoting from a 1908 novel. Can it be included in our edition? I initially didn’t think so because we don’t have it in a PD edition, but the fact it’s a quote from a PD novel is late-breaking news (literally as I was writing this), so that might change things.
2. A woman’s name (Muriel St. Clair) is abbreviated M. St.C. Brian has the whole thing wrapped in a personal-name abbr, but should the St. also be tagged, since it’s an abbreviation also? If so, lint doesn’t like nested abbr’s. (Maybe because that’s not legal in HTML? I don’t know.) And, as a second question, it should technically be M. St. C., with a space between the St. and the C., but do we care, i.e. is that worth a change?

[Brian]

1. There are two scans, one from 1926, the other from 1930 (but also with a 1926 copyright). The 1930 edition has an epigraph, quoting from a 1908 novel. Can it be included in our edition? I initially didn’t think so  because we don’t have it in a PD edition, but the fact it’s a quote from a PD novel is late-breaking news (literally as I was writing this), so that might change things.

To be clear: The epigraph was present in the original 1926 book, as
published by Charles Scribner's Sons, I am all but certain. The 1926
scan we have is a reprint by A. L. Burt. They replaced the original
title page with their own, and in the process left off the epigraph.

[Brian]

Update: I still don't have proper scans, but I did manage to find a
couple of auction listings for the Scribner's edition, which provide
photos of the title page. The epigraph is in fact present.

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/134046651568
    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/363244378006

[Alex Cabal]

You can include the epigraph. I think wrapping the whole thing in <abbr>
is fine, I don't think nesting <abbr> has much meaning.

[Alex Cabal]

Lint is still throwing errors, can you clear those up?

[Brian]

> Lint is still throwing errors, can you clear those up?

Hm. I'm not getting anything from lint.
My repo is up to date with github:

> $ git status
> On branch master
> Your branch is up to date with 'origin/master'.
>
> nothing to commit, working tree clean
> $ git pull
> Already up to date.
> $ se lint .
> $ se build --check-only .
> $

What errors are you seeing?

[Vince]

Yeah, I didn’t get any, either, Alex, before I gave it to you. I assume you’re running se HEAD? Those errors are because of the role changes you made a few days ago; those aren’t in the released version, so no one else can see them.

[Alex Cabal]

I cloned https://github.com/BR903/s-s-van-dine_the-benson-murder-case
which has some lint errors.

Is there a different repo?

[Vince]

That’s the one. No errors here, and I just re-cloned it to a new directory, and none there, either.

[Alex Cabal]

I see, they all had to do with roles. se:role is deprecated but that
version of the toolset has not yet been released. I'll take care of it.

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[Vince]

Right. :)

I assume you’re running se HEAD? Those errors are because of the role changes you made a few days ago; those aren’t in the released version, so no one else can see them.

[Alex Cabal]

This ebook was produced by Brian Raiter. Thanks Brian!

Ebook URL:
https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/s-s-van-dine/the-benson-murder-case

GitHub URL:
https://github.com/standardebooks/s-s-van-dine_the-benson-murder-case

[Alex Cabal]

OK, looks very good. Great work Brian, thanks! I've gone ahead and
released it.

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[Brian]

Apologies over the confusion! I'll keep an eye on the roles in the
future.

Is there a rough timeline for when the next version will be released?

[Alex Cabal]

No, but soonish.

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