The Robert Graves Diary Project

Editorial & Transcription Policies

Principles

• A guiding principle of the Graves diary mark-up procedure is to approximate the original document as closely as possible, so that the character of Graves’ ‘diary style’ is preserved along with its content.   Fortunately, XML ( eXtensible Mark up Language), with its capacity to convey emendations such as deletions (crossed out) and supralinear additions allows us to produce an authentic version which reflects to some extent the immediacy of the diary mss.   It has been necessary to work constantly with the mss in order to identify and adjust any changes made in the transcript which diverge from the copy text, including paragraphing, spelling and   punctuation.   Any exceptions will be accounted for in the editorial notes.

Process

The mark-up process involves the following:

• inserting tags for names, places, titles, foreign words, emendations, notes and editorial comments
• replacing entities (such as accents, and currency signs) with the required codes
• doing research for editorial notes and for data bases when required (many of the diary notes have been provided by Karl Goldschmidt--Graves’ personal secretary--and by William Graves).
• adding names, places and titles to their respective databases as they occur in the diary. These are also added to the Notetab library file, a reference list which includes the tagged codes connecting each item with their data base, and enhances the efficiency of the mark-up.
• validating the marked-up text with a text editor (we are using oXygen) and making the necessary corrections.

Copy Text Decisions*

Editorial

1. Keep as close to the final authorial intention as possible.
2. Only mark paragraphs, not line breaks--except in table-like structures.
3. Use the TEI tags for verse (< lg>,<l></l>,</ lg>). If a portion of text appears to have a pattern, but authorial intention is uncertain, mark it up as   it is with the <p> tag, and add a note pointing readers to the ms image.
4. Mark up changes where they occur: indicate if illegible or unclear. Editorial discretion may be used in cases where the alteration is very slight, such as an accidental mark scribbled out, etc. When in doubt, consult!
5. Only transcribe crossing out where it can be clearly read: otherwise, point readers to the image to check.
6. Interlinear writing can be included in the body of the text when it occurs due to lack of space; however, if RG has indicated an insertion, this should be marked. Note: where there is clear evidence of additions added after the fact (such as interlinear crowing, marginalia, etc.), the <add> tag may be used (a caveat regarding this decision will be included in the introduction).
7. Other insertions, when marked as such by RG, should also be transcribed.
8. Authorial changes of capitalization or punctuation don’t need to be noted, but the author’s final decisions regarding these should be adhered to.

Style Sheet

1. Create a style sheet which will show the copy text with no notes or hypertext links.
2. In the editorial version show headings as part of the text when possible.
3. In logs include the numbering as part of the text.
4. Text rendered to conform to the page (e.g. written sideways in margin)is treated no differently--it is not necessary to reproduce original appearance.
5. Render logs as lists.

*These guidelines were modified 17.03.05 (Editorial numbers 3 and 6)