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-----Original Message-----
From: Forum for ballad scholars [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf
Of David G. Engle
Sent: Monday, January 13, 2003 2:33 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Kinloch in Folklore Reprints
Dear Balladeers,
some time ago there was a good deal of discussion on this list about making
available older works of folk ballads and of folksong scholarship.
Well, once again, Bob Waltz has stepped up to the plate and shown us how it
could be done... nay: how it can be done.
Announcing
George R. Kinloch's _Ballad Book_. Edinburgh, 1827. A Diplomatic
Transcription in HTML by Robert B. Waltz. Preserving the pagination and
illustrations of the original. Based on the Edmund Goldsmid reprint. xiv
+ 88 pages.
It is to be found at
http://www.csufresno.edu/folklore/reprints/KinlochBalladBook.html
Robert can tell you a lot more about it, but basically: in the attempt to
explore how the web can be used to make out-of-print and inaccessible works
available to interested scholars and singers (and musicians), Bob has
initiated
The Fresno Folklore Reprint Series - making major folklore works of the
past available in electronic form:
http://www.csufresno.edu/folklore/reprints
with this first offering.
Since scanning the work in did not turn out to be practical, Bob typed in
the text so that it may be read with any browser. A "diplomatic edition"
is one which "resets type" of the original, but indicates faithfully the
pagination, spellings, layout, makeup, and qualities of the original. Bob
has done an admirable diplomatic edition with Kinloch's "other" Ballads,
companion to his "Ancient Scottish Ballads," of such use to Prof. Child.
In this form the work is not only accessible (enough of a gain to warrant
the effort alone), but in such a form that one can track down references to
the original text, and - very much to the point for us - in a form which is
searchable by machine. Moreover, Bob has added cogent annotations [clearly
and "diplomatically" labelled as his own] and a most useful "Index of
Author's Titles, Common Titles, and First Lines" hyperlinked back to the
songs themselves.
We felt the best place to put the series would be in the neighborhood of
the Traditional Ballad Index, so, voilą: the Fresno Folklore Reprint Series.
As Robert says at the end of his introduction: "Feel free to spread the
word, and to use this in any way that is helpful to you. But we are making
these materials available at no charge: we ask that you not charge for
reproducing or distributing them."
I think you will find it well thought out and marvellously executed; I
certainly hope that this first effort will be followed by others, making
more works accessible to those who value them highly by putting them to
good use!
This is what the "Folklore Reprint Series" can look like if we choose to
follow this lead.
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David G. Engle
California State University, Fresno
Tel: (559) 278-2708; FAX: (559) 278-7878
http://www.csufresno.edu/forlang
The Traditional Ballad Index Web Site:
http://www.csufresno.edu/folklore/BalladIndexTOC.html
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