CME Proofreading Log

Inst NOTISid real errors pardonables stripped filesize sample proof record s.bytes/min.
aa aha2659 0 0 6579        
ab bau0088 0 1 8925        
ac aha2740 2 1 28446        
ad aha2738 1 1 81505        
ae ape7380 1 * 31495        
af aha2626 2 0 4851        
ag afw5744 0 * 35667        
ah aeh6713 0 0 48198        
ai baa8159 0 1 15421        
aj ahb1378 0 6 81134        
ak ajt8111 1* 0* 52490        
al anz2316 5 0 29362        
am acm9160 1 1 12887        
an acv5981 0 0 12791        
ao acb1675 0 0* 1427        
ap adq4048 1 1 18358        
aq ajd3529 0 0 14925        
ar aha2735 2 1 27752        
as ape9595 0 0 36037 25 120 3 243
at afy7823 0 0 22724        
au ajd8171 1 3 32544        
av aaw7316 0 0 9884        
aw apa1967 0 4 24401        
ax aha2708 2 2 54908        
ay ape7335 1 1 55396 [118] 220 50 143
az aha2700 0 0 1689        
ba bau1376 0 1 20191 [39] 50 10 204
bb ahb1325 5 0 51191 [85] 150 63 172
bc ajt8128 2 0 194179 105 120 60 681
bd aha2706 1 0 15791 [34] 45 10 177
be aha2702 0 0 13671 [30] 52 [6] 155
bf aha2688 0 4 16122 [22] 70 20 144
bg aha2705 0 0 12878 [18] 50 10 165
bh aha2638 2 1 37051 33 140 10 202
bi anz4364 0 0 21436 15 60 5 268
bj any9948 1 0 12711 12 35 5 244
bk afw1075 1 0 7869 30 35 15 98
bl ajg4507 1 0 31300 [34] 190 15 131
bm afz9170.1 0 2 291325 [400] 880 [134] 206
bm afz9170.2 11* 2 361430 [400] 850 [166] 255
bn afw1383 2 0 77171 [80] 390 44 150
bo ahb1341.2 2 1 94936 [290] 390 [44] 131
bo ahb1341.2 6 2 138307 [290] 300 [63] 212
bo ahb1341.3 0 0 5094 5 5 1 463
bo ahb1341.4 0 0 2585 5 5 1 235
bp afb3713 0 1 45479 [62] 130 30 205
bq ajt8125 11 2 89012 90 410 [41] 165
br ajt7399 0 1 61077 [79] 230 30 180
bs acn1637 3 0 9861 [15] 50 15 123
bt ahb1379 0* 0 38780 30 240 45 123
bu aca1723 1 2 34120 40 120 25 184
bv aje0623 1 0 12450 35 70 6 112
bw acs0188 0 0 5139 22 25 [3] 107
bx aew3422 0 0 2650 18 10 4 83
by agv8488 0 0 7172 20 45 30 75
bz aha6127 1 0 9659 20 40 [5] 149
ca aba2053 5 0 24954 45 55 [12] 223
cb alt5980 0 0 16791 15 75 11 166
cc ajh1649 0 0 13209 40 30 1 66
cd ajt2514 0 0 11575 30 50 20 116
ce aha6129 1 1 12021 25 40 9 162
cf acw2946 0 0 5056 20 15 4 130
cg ape9594 0 0 9931 19 30 [5] 184
ch afy7793 0 0 17914 [31] 70 11 160
ci agz8233 0 1 55648 40 190 20 223
cj agz8232 1 1 53742 [60] 170 30 207
ck agz7236 1 3 53571 [60] 150 20 233
cl ash2689 0 1 52019 [60] 180 15 204
cm ash3725 1 1 51284 [35] 190 12 216
cn agz8246 1 1 47891 25 95 22 337
co agz8234 1 5 54034 25 100 20 373
cp agz8235 0 0 51500 [35] 130 16 285
cq ant9912 1 0 19889 21 70 13 191
cr agd2855 0 0 2869 13 20 6 99
cs aha2711 1 0 4521 35 20 5 75
ct aha9911 0 0 7455 5 40 13 129
152 allowed:84 found(+56)3,036,307 61 142 24 191

Time stats. times in brackets are extrapolated from other times in the column, based on average recorded time per page (for preparing samples) and average recorded time per byte (for recording proofing information). The average book requires an hour to prepare its sample, two hours and twenty minutes to proof, and twenty-four minutes to document the proofing results. 191 bytes of stripped sample take a minute of total proofing effort, meaning that 3.8 kB of tag-stripped text can be sample-proofed every minute, or about 5.28 kB of tagged text (roughly two pages); this amounts to a proofing cost of roughly $0.17/page of the whole book.

Error log Note: "Real" errors are those that are counted against the 99.995% accuracy rate. "Pardonables" are mistakes that could not reasonably have been prevented (e.g., errors arising from defects in the original printed page). "Stripped filesize" is the file size in bytes of the proofed sample from each book, after it has been reduced by the script "striptag.pl" to a file containing only characters. This script removes all tags (retaining only the values of the "N" and "REND" attributes); and reduces all multibyte character entities to a single byte. The samples themselves represent a randomly selected 5% of the pages in each book. The numbers in the final row ("allowed" and "found") refer to "real" errors: 1 error allowed per 20,000 characters, vs. number actually found. Asterisks point to descriptions of errors that were not included in these stats (see below).


Transcription problems, miscellaneous and endemic

  1. `` used instead of opening "
  2. ` used instead of opening ' (usually no harm done, just not necessary to distinguish opening from closing quote marks; some books, however, use a true ` to mark a span of text for commentary; we should reserve the character for those and similar uses).
  3. Over-literalism and inconsistency in spacing before punctation, especially semicolons (e.g. xxx; vs. xxx ;) and exclamation marks (xxx! vs. xxx !).
  4. Though Guidelines warn about possibility of italic "thorns" being printed as normal thorns because of inadequate printing fonts (in some books, e.g. book "AL" [Beues of Hampton]), suggesting that non-italic thorns in otherwise italic words should be treated as italic, this warning is probably best restricted to notes, where italic text is most likely to occur. Following it overliterally in the main text results in the use of <I> tags around words that should not have them, especially þer and þar (occasionally also þus, þou, þys, þet, and inexplicably with), which are basically normal words with italicized expanded abbreviations (-er -ar -us)--words which should not be treated differently from other words with expanded abbreviations (e.g. "oþer, moþer, furþer"), that is, recorded without italics: &thorn;er, &thorn;ar, &thorn;us, &thorn;ou, &thorn;et, with, o&thorn;er, etc.
  5. Macron over "p" should have been listed in the instructions as a macron to ignore (like macron over "m" and "n").
  6. See comments below under "AV" and "AY" (and "BF") about roman letters in generally italic words (as opposed to italic letters in generally roman words).
  7. '' (two single quot. marks) used instead of " (one double quot. mark) in some early volumes.
  8. Notes to line spans end up nonsensically attached to all lines in the span if the edition uses the form "13,14" instead of "13-14" to describe the span.
  9. Notes to line spans end up attached to only the first line of the span if the edition uses the form "13f." or "13ff." to describe the span.
  10. Milestones within words need to be postponed till end of word, like PBs.
  11. Milestones within NOTES require inconsistent treatment that is difficult to specify in general.
  12. Expected problems with abbreviations (search for "$").

Specific transcription errors

Some tagging problems (noticed while character-proofing)

Appendix. Some problems in Beues of Hampton

1. Extended passages of verse in notes

The dtd does not allow for infinitely mixed content in notes. Many of the notes contain either a passage of verse, or a set of individual variants followed by an extended passage of verse (two or more lines). These have usually been rendered either as a single line group or as a paragraph (containing only the line reference) followed by a line group. Neither is quite right; the first is quite wrong, since the list of individual variants certainly is not a line of verse. And the lines quoted rarely form a coherent line group. Suggested alternative: Embed the extended passages in the note within <Q> tags. <Q> may contain either individual lines, or line-groups, though lines (<L>) are good enough in most cases. If necessary, place the <Q>s within <P>s, but in most cases it will not be necessary. <Q>s can coexist with #PCDATA in <NOTE>s. Examples:

a. As coded:

<NOTE PLACE="foot"><LG>
<L><I>long] g,</I> one letter blotted out before it M ; om. O.</L>
<L><I>Hyr nose was comely, hyr lyppes swete,</I></L>
<L><I>Wyth a louely mouth and fayre fete,</I></L>
<L><I>With tethe whyte &amp; euen set,</I></L>
<L><I>Hyr handes were swete as vyolet,</I></L>
<L><I>Hyr body was gentyl withouten lacke,</I></L>
<L><I>Wel shapen both body and backe.</I> add. O.</L></LG></NOTE>

a. As preferred:

<NOTE PLACE="foot">
<I>long] g,</I> one letter blotted out before it M ; om. O.
<Q>
<L><I>Hyr nose was comely, hyr lyppes swete,</I></L>
<L><I>Wyth a louely mouth and fayre fete,</I></L>
<L><I>With tethe whyte &amp; euen set,</I></L>
<L><I>Hyr handes were swete as vyolet,</I></L>
<L><I>Hyr body was gentyl withouten lacke,</I></L>
<L><I>Wel shapen both body and backe.</I></L>
</Q> add. O.</NOTE>

b. as coded:

<NOTE PLACE="foot">
<LG>
<L><I>faderys</I> ESNC. <I>schel wel] schal</I> E ; <I>wyll</I> C ; <I>wol</I> N ; <I>wolde</I> S. <I>awreke</I> SNC ; <I>be wreke</I> E.</L>
<L>(<I>&THORN;at chyld</I> (<I>Al he</I> SN) <I>tolde &thorn;ere</I> (<I>him in</I> SN) <I>hys sawe,</I></L>
<L><I>Hou &thorn;e emperour hadde his fadyr islawe</I> (<I>slawe</I> SN). add. ESN.</L>
</LG>
</NOTE>

b. As preferred (showing optional <P>)

<NOTE PLACE="foot">
<P><I>faderys</I> ESNC. <I>schel wel] schal</I> E ; <I>wyll</I> C ; <I>wol</I> N ; <I>wolde</I> S. <I>awreke</I> SNC ; <I>be wreke</I> E.</P>
<P>
<Q>
<L>(<I>&THORN;at chyld</I> (<I>Al he</I> SN) <I>tolde &thorn;ere</I> (<I>him in</I> SN) <I>hys sawe,</I></L>
<L><I>Hou &thorn;e emperour hadde his fadyr islawe</I> (<I>slawe</I> SN).</L>
</Q> add. ESN.</P>
</NOTE>

c. As coded:

<NOTE PLACE="foot"><LG>
<L><I>all&mdash;fresh] other wedes fayre</I> O. <I>clere] nere</I> (!) <I>M.</I></L>
<L><I>Wel furred wyth great valour:</I></L>
<L><I>`Haue this,' he sayde, `for thy labour !'</I> add. O.</L></LG></NOTE>

c. As preferred:

<NOTE PLACE="foot">
<I>all&mdash;fresh] other wedes fayre</I> O. <I>clere] nere</I> (!) <I>M.</I>
<Q>
<L><I>Wel furred wyth great valour:</I></L>
<L><I>`Haue this,' he sayde, `for thy labour !'</I></L>
</Q> add. O.
</NOTE>

d. As coded:

<NOTE PLACE="foot"><LG>
<L><I>&thorn;is]</I> om. SN.</L>
<L><I>In which lond so</I> (<I>that</I> N) <I>&thorn;ou wende,</I></L>
<L><I>Spendyng ynow&yogh;e</I> (<I>euer</I> N) <I>y shal</I> (<I>wol</I> N) <I>&thorn;e sende,</I></L>
<L><I>Where &thorn;ou be in eny londe,</I></L>
<L><I>Euer &thorn;ou sende me &thorn;y sonde :</I> add. SN.</L></LG></NOTE>

d. As preferred:

<NOTE PLACE="foot">
<I>&thorn;is]</I> om. SN.
<Q>
<L><I>In which lond so</I> (<I>that</I> N) <I>&thorn;ou wende,</I></L>
<L><I>Spendyng ynow&yogh;e</I> (<I>euer</I> N) <I>y shal</I> (<I>wol</I> N) <I>&thorn;e sende,</I></L>
<L><I>Where &thorn;ou be in eny londe,</I></L>
<L><I>Euer &thorn;ou sende me &thorn;y sonde :</I></L>
</Q> add. SN.</NOTE>

e. As coded. This one is acceptable. But a more consistent approach might be to separate out the lines with a <Q>

<NOTE PLACE="foot"><P>1271&mdash;1274:</P><LG>
<L><I>Palmars wede &thorn;ou schalt were,</I></L>
<L><I>So mayst &thorn;ou &thorn;e bettur aftur hym speer,</I></L>
<L><I>And euyr whodur &thorn;at &thorn;ou wende,</I></L>
<L><I>Golde ynogh y schall the sende.'</I></L>
<L><I>Tho seyde Tarry : `Be the trynyte,</I></L>
<L><I>I schall hym seke yn many a cuntre.</I> C.</L></LG></NOTE>

e. As preferred:

<NOTE PLACE="foot">1271&ndash;1274:
<Q>
<L><I>Palmars wede &thorn;ou schalt were,</I></L>
<L><I>So mayst &thorn;ou &thorn;e bettur aftur hym speer,</I></L>
<L><I>And euyr whodur &thorn;at &thorn;ou wende,</I></L>
<L><I>Golde ynogh y schall the sende.'</I></L>
<L><I>Tho seyde Tarry : `Be the trynyte,</I></L>
<L><I>I schall hym seke yn many a cuntre.</I></L>
</Q> C.
</NOTE>
2. Notes with "f."

Many notes begin with a line number followed by "f." (haven't seen any with "ff." but it is possible). This possibility was not foreseen by the instructions; as a result, they have been treated as ordinary notes: the line number removed, and the "f." left to begin the note, like this:

<NOTE PLACE="foot"><P>f.:</P><LG>
<L><I>Syr Befyse askyd yn &thorn;at stounde,</I></L>
<L><I>Who them all mete founde.</I> C.</L>
<L><I>Sere rabastor (?) to &thorn;e gate go&thorn;</I></L>
<L><I>And askyd hem, what &thorn;ey &thorn;ere do&thorn;.</I> E.</L></LG></NOTE>

Unfortunately, this makes no sense. In print, this note begins "2073 f.: Syr (etc.)". The "f." here means "and following line"; i.e., it means the same thing as "2073-74"; the note should therefore be placed at the end of 2074, with the line reference retained, rather than at the end of 2073, with half the line reference omitted ("2073") and the other half retained ("f.").

<NOTE PLACE="foot">2073 f.:
<Q>
<L><I>Syr Befyse askyd yn &thorn;at stounde,</I></L>
<L><I>Who them all mete founde.</I> C.</L>
<L><I>Sere rabastor (?) to &thorn;e gate go&thorn;</I></L>
<L><I>And askyd hem, what &thorn;ey &thorn;ere do&thorn;.</I></L>
</Q> E.
</NOTE>

Likewise, this: <NOTE PLACE="foot">f. om. E.</NOTE>
should be changed to this, and placed at the end of line 2076, not 2075: <NOTE PLACE="foot">2075 f. om. E.</NOTE>

and this:

<NOTE PLACE="foot"><P>f.: </P><LG>
<L><I>He &yogh;ede aboute faste wi&thorn; alle</I></L>
<L><I>And beheeld &thorn;e castel walle,</I> E.</L></LG></NOTE></L>
<L>Wende aboute &thorn;e barbican,<NOTE PLACE="foot"><I>Wende] To go</I> C. <I>&thorn;e b.] or it bygan</I> SN.</NOTE>

should be changed to this, and placed at the end of line 2094, not 2093:

<NOTE PLACE="foot">2093 f.: 
<Q>
<L><I>He &yogh;ede aboute faste wi&thorn; alle</I></L>
<L><I>And beheeld &thorn;e castel walle,</I></L>
</Q> E.
</NOTE>