Technical and Professional Writing Commons^™

A Message From The President, David R. Chesnutt

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

Joel Myerson and I have been working together for more than a decade now-drawn together by our common interests in scholarly editing and publishing. We have put together panels and sessions at various professional meetings, worked together on workshops, put together grant proposals, and helped each other in a variety of less formal ways. Our regular luncheons give us a chance to keep up with what's going on in our respective fields, as well as the local scene at our university. They also provide a sounding board for ideas.

Project News

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

When copies of new editions are not available for inspection, the editors of Documentary Editing attempt to verify the accuracy of listings for the "Project News" section by checking sources such as publishers' catalogs, Books in Print, or the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) network. These sources, however, are sometimes incomplete or inaccurate. Project editors can help to assure that their volumes are accurately reported by sending publication information or review copies to Documentary Editing.

A Summary: The Ade Annual Meeting Sessions, Chicago, Illinois, 18-20 October 1991

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

Fakes and Forgeries, Chair: Michael E. Stevens--The ACLS-NHPRC Historical Documents Study: Implications for Editors, Ann D. Gordon & Barbara B. Oberg--The Editors' Appreciation: George Washington and John Dewey, Chair: J. A. Leo Lemay--Editing African Historical Sources, Chair: Roger B. Beck

Women's Interest Network

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

The seventh annual Women's Interest Network (WIN) breakfast was held 19 October 1991 at the ADE convention. Because the meeting was held in Chicago, the WIN steering committee chose a program featuring Chicago women's networking.

The Association For Documentary Editing Treasurer's Report

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

Income--Expenses--Julian P. Boyd Award Fund--

Newsletter Of The Association For Documentary Editing, Volume 5, Number 1, February 1983.

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

No abstract provided.

Realities Of The Sermon: Some Considerations For Editors, Wilson H. Kimnach

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

The word "sermon" derives from the Latin sermo, indicating a talk or discourse. That definition endures, with the historical narrowing of the term to the proselytizing public addresses of representatives of religious faiths. Metaphorically, of course, the term is applied to any exhortation of a more or less formal nature that resembles such homiletical efforts. The important point is that the sermon is an event in time that inevitably terminates when the oral discourse ends. As Richard Weaver has observed, "every speech which is designed to move is directed to a special audience in its unique situation"; I ultimately, this …

F. B. Sanborn And The Editing Of Thoreau, Joel Myerson

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

One of the most rapacious editors of nineteenth century American literary figures was Franklin Benjamin Sanborn (I831-1917). When he moved to Concord in the mid-1850s, Sanborn began making friends with all the major Transcendentalists. As Theodore Parker's literary executor (though Parker's widow prevented him from editing anything) and a friend of Bronson Alcott and Henry David Thoreau, he had access to their journals and manuscripts. But, as an editor, Sanborn left much to be desired: he often transcribed incorrectly, left out much material, and invented new material to suit his purposes. Perhaps the most famous example of Sanborn's editorial technique …

Textual Criticism And Composition Research, Patrick Scott

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

It's a commonplace among textual bibliographers that the questions they ask and answer apply across many different disciplines. As Fredson Bowers long ago argued, "No matter what the field of study, the basis lies in the analysis of the records in printed or in manuscript form."l Not just in high literature, but in history, philosophy, and the history of science, modern bibliographical editing is widely recognized as indispensable. Yet in bibliography's, and Professor Bowers', own traditional fiefdom, the English graduate program, one area has been almost totally neglected. Whereas twenty-five years ago, it was students of modern literature, especially the …

Newsletter Of The Association For Documentary Editing, Volume 5, Number 2, May 1983.

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

No abstract provided.

Optical Scanning And Cindex: Tools For Creating A Cumulative Index To The Laurens Papers, David R. Chesnutt

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

When the Papers of Henry Laurens project published its first volume in 1968, computers were still very much the domain of our scientific colleagues. Only a handful of humanists like Wilhelm Ott in Germany and Eric Boem in the United States had begun to realize the computer's potential for eliminating some of the drudgery associated with publishing scholarly materials. Today, computer assistance has become the sine qua non for almost every large-scale edition. Older editions like the Laurens Papers have had to automate their procedures gradually-moving step-by-step to replace traditional methods with computer-assisted methods.

The Laurens Papers began that process …

Dangerous To Documentary Editing: Copyright Office Report On Section 108, Michael J. Crawford

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

Ever since the 1976 copyright act went into effect, the Copyright Office has been interpreting the paragraphs that apply to library and archival reproduction of copyright protected works in a way that could impair the ability of documentary editing projects to collect previously unpublished sources. In a report transmitted to Congress on 5 January this year, the Copyright Office has recommended that its interpretation be enacted into law. A brief explanation of the copyright law as it applies to unpublished written works will put the Register's report in context and illucidate the danger it poses.

Single-Editor Editions From Manuscript: The Journals Of Theodore Parker, Carol Johnston

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

Anyone who undertakes to edit a text must necessarily make some basic decisions about the nature of that text and the purpose of the final edition. The editorial plan on which this edition is based was derived from a series of premises on the nature of the Parker manuscripts and on my purpose in editing them. The journal manuscripts are massive, encyclopedic documents rendering Parker's thought coherently, if not always according to strict grammatical usage. They are private, unpublished documents written in a hand that is cramped and difficult to read, and the manuscript pages are complicated by unformed words, …

Newsletter Of The Association For Documentary Editing, Volume 5, Number 3, September 1983.

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

No abstract provided.

Computer-Assisted Document Control For Editorial Projects, Paul Machlis

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

Effective organizing and indexing of historical and literary texts are essential to the work of documentary editing. Card files, typed lists, and computer printouts help us count and classify documents and provide access to materials by date, subject, owner, and other features. In doing so, they offer editors some control over the tens of thousands of documents that form each of the editions. Maintaining tools of document control is not our central work, but it is prerequisite to the publication of accurate and thoroughly annotated texts.

The following remarks concern the use of computers at four projects to produce instruments …

On Editing Old French Texts, Mary B. Rutgers

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

As I understand it, a major focus of our discussion this afternoon is to be the problem of writing a manual on editing for an audience that is-to say the least-not in agreement on a single best method of editing texts. By way of approaching the problem of "orthodoxy" in Old French textual criticism, let me describe how Alfred Foulet and I came to write our manual as we did, the readers we had in mind, and the reactions our work evoked. The manual, On Editing Old French Texts, was published in 1979 by the Regents Press of Kansas.

Newsletter Of The Association For Documentary Editing, Volume 5, Number 4, December 1983.

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

No abstract provided.

Some Reflections On The Soft Money Generation, Charles T. Cullen

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

When I reflect on the state of our association after five years of existence I am pleased at what I see. We have been forced by circumstances to mature early-ours was a baptism by fire and I think we have succeeded. The hopes expressed at our organizational meeting in St. Louis in 1978 and the goals set by the first councils have been realized in a short period of time. Our membership has grown steadily and increasing numbers of people have attended our annual meetings to exchange information and ideas and to participate in the program. The editing guide called …

Booker T. Washington: The Labyrinth And The Thread, Louis R. Harlan

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

l am living proof that an editor can be a biographer. Whether an editor should be a biographer, or vice versa, depends on the person and the subject. I cannot speak for everyone faced with that dilemma, but for me as editor and biographer the double life proved that much richer. As a biographer focusing on the thread of biographical narrative I had the advantage of collaborating with an editor, a co-editor, and a corporal's guard of editorial researchers who explored the geography of the labyrinth-the historical context, the principal associates of my central figure, and even what Tom Clark …

Jonathan Edwards' A History Of The Work Of Redemption, John F. Wilson

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

As a historian of religion, I appreciate the opportunity to present this discussion of a very particular editing assignment I have lived with for some years. Needless to say, this experience has increased my respect for those whose primary profession is close editorial work on texts. As a consequence, I offer these brief comments with a vivid sense of being essentially a layman in the field of editing who has tried to come to terms with its demands. Let me summarize the very special issues present in this project, and then turn to indicate the elements of the solution that …

The Longfellow Letters: Review Of The Letters Of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Edited By Andrew Hilen, Volume V (1866-1874), Volume Vi (1875- 1882)., Edward L. Tucker

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

With the publication of these two volumes, Andrew Hilen brings to a conclusion his monumental work consisting of the extant letters of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-- 1882). These last two volumes complete a project that began in 1966 and ended in 1982, one hundred years after the death of the poet.

The "Authentic" Witness: The Editor Speaks For The Document, Wayne Cutler

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

For several years now literary and historical editors have been "talking shop" in their attempt to isolate what, if anything, they share of a common editorial method. Regrettably, the more we have talked the more defensive our thinking has become. David J. Nordloh's essay in the May 1980 issue of the ADE Newsletter, "The 'Perfect' Text: The Editor Speaks for the Author," demonstrated to my chagrin the occasional depths of our mutual misunderstandings. Hoping that subsequent commentary would obviate the need for my making a self-pleading rejoinder, I have postponed the present answer for some eighteen months. The ADE Newsletter …

The Power Of Positivist Babble Or, Two Anecdotes Declining Toward A Conclusion: Review Of Literary & Historical Editing. Edited And With Introductions By George L. Vogt And John Bush Jones., Jon Kukla

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

The seven components of Literary & Historical Editing are three introductory pieces (two by the editors and the third, a survey of modern literary and historical editions, by James Thorpe), essays by George C. Rogers, Jr., and G. Thomas Tanselle on textual editing, and two discussions of annotation. Martin C. Battestin's suggestions about literary annotation-which have also been published in volume 34 of Studies in Bibliography (1981)struck me as sensible and clear, especially if one may accept at face value his disclaimers: that he is not"trying to do for the literary annotator what Greg has done for the textual editor,» …

Interpretation In Editing: The Gallatin Papers, Barbara Oberg

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

I think I will plunge right in, and propose that not only is interpretive editing all that we can do, not only is it proper, but that it is the best chance we have of producing works of history which will stand as classics of historical writing. I want to use as an example of a good, classic, interpretive, edition of correspondence and published writings, Henry Adams's three-volume edition of Writings of Albert Gallatin. This is the edition of Gallatin's writings which scholars now have, and which they had for about the last century. In 1877 Henry Adams was engaged …

In Response To Reagor, John Y. Simmon

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

In urging us to rethink the issue of federal financial support for historical editing down to the fundamental level of what deserves this support and why, Ms. Reagor has done us all a favor. The National Historical Publications and Records Commission has a long prehistory dating back to the seminal thought of J. Franklin Jameson; a period of good intentions and inactivity (1934-50); the age of Jefferson-or of Julian P. Boyd-(1950-64); expanded powers with the addition of grant funding (1964- 75); and finally, a bifurcated role with the addition of a records program to its initial mandate. Throughout, there has …

Historical Editing: The Federal Role, Simone Reagor

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

When I began work on this paper, I started from the assumption that I would discover a range of arguments to justify continued federal funding for documentary editing through the powers of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission structured much as we have come to know it. My effort to think through this question has, instead, brought me to quite another position. Whatever options we may now have about federal funding, I no longer believe that we should replicate what we have had before. I do not believe it is wise to continue funding for historical editing through the …

Review Of Journal (Volume I: 1837-1844) By Henry D. Thoreau; Edited By John C. Broderick, Elizabeth Hall Witherell, William L. Howarth, Robert Sattelmeyer, And Thomas Blanding., Philip F. Gura

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

The recent appearance from Princeton University Press of the first volume (1837-1844) of Thoreau's massive Journal is a signal event for scholars of American literature, and any who doubt the fact need only read the editors' "General Introduction" (intended as a prefatory statement to the entire publication project) to learn why. The tale told therein of Thoreau's friends' and previous editors' conscious and unconscious alterations of his text recalls the ill treatment afforded another classic American writer at the hands of her friends and editors. Mabel Loomis Todd, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, and Martha Dickinson Bianchi perhaps did Emily Dickinson's readers …

Microform Editions Of Documentary Collections: Where Do We Stand? And Where Do We Go From Here?, Thomas E. Jeffrey

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

The following essay is intended to serve as a brief introduction to the world of scholarly micro-publishing. It will begin with a discussion of commercial micro-publishers and the contributions they can make towards the publication of a high-quality microform edition. It will also allude to some recent developments in the micro-publication of documentary collections, such as comprehensive microfiche editions and microfiche supplements to printed books, computer-generated microfiche, and selective (rather than comprehensive) microform editions. The essay will not include a technical discussion of microforms or a step-by-step description of how to prepare a collection of documents for filming. Information about …

Newsletter Of The Association For Documentary Editing, Volume 4, Number 2, May 1982.

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

No abstract provided.

Newsletter Of The Association For Documentary Editing, Volume 4, Number 4, December 1982.

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

No abstract provided.