------- Forwarded message follows ------- From: Gordon J. Callon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: facsimile vs. modern transcription Send reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date sent: Sat, 06 Dec 2003 17:29:45 -0400
> To find, correct and document the mistakes in an edition like Testudo > Gallo Germanico (Tree) would be *very* time consuming! That could be a > reason why academical editions are far more expensive than editions > intended for players. Reasons that scholarly editions (or "academical editions") are more expensive include: 1. more limited market; 2. often better, acid-free paper and better bindings; 3. more staff editorial labour; 4. royality payments for facsimile reproductions (as much as $60 or more per single photo); 5. the principal editor is expected to consult, collate, and compare EVERY known primary source of every piece, normally in the original (i.e., the actual manuscript/printed book, not a photo or other copy). This means travelling to every library, museum, collection, etc. that has every source, often on various continents. Usually these sources are listed and variants noted in the edition commentary, adding more editorial labour (especially on staff editors who are on the publisher's salary), and more pages to proof read, print, and bind. The reasons to find all sources include: !. to determine which source(s) is/are most authorative; 2. to compare different sources for variants (useful to find "what's an error and what is simply 'unusual' "; and to see how much latitude is appropriate in performance practice); variants are usually listed in the edition commentary; 3. to spot irregularities (for example later additions are often in a different ink - not apparent in a photocopy, even in pencil or, in one case I found, coloured crayon), see watermarks, find unknown sources, etc. 4. to clarify problems in attribution; 5. to help date the source, hence the piece (through context, water marks, etc.); etc., etc. (For example, one edition I did had sources has wide apart as Los Angeles, London, Paris, Edinburgh, and Florence, etc. There was even a source in Lubin [that Bob Spencer travelled to instead of myself - he was going there anyway].) GJC ------- End of forwarded message -------
