It is true about the Guttenberg Project edition - and the earlier
elimination of the copyright (at least in the USA). I no longer know the
duration of copyright in England, or it there is a binding non-USA
international copyright convention that addresses duration. (So the
Wasteland may not be available in England?? Thus putting a damper on
international editions, such one from UC Press?).
I kind of love the ironic honesty of Guttenberg Projects self claimer:
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
"Vanilla" would hardly be the operative word for, say, the paper and
typography of the Guttenberg Bible (for starters), nor its content.
Indeed the Project's version of The Wasteland looks like typescript - which,
ironically in the case of Eliot, is counter-royal and practically
refreshing.
Nevertheless it seems a good opportunity for a good publisher with a
dedication to typography, etc., to make a real good, attractive edition of
the poem, plus other Eliot poems no longer in copyright. Public access does
not have to be reduced to something like going into an old-fashioned phone
booth!
Still into tangible thrill of good typography and good design.
Stephen V
http://stephenvincent.net/blog/
> In some ways that was a terrific idea, Pierre. I remember coming across
> the lack of the poem & thinking that it made sense (also knew it was
> due to cost), because in some ways the poem is for most readers of
> poetry, already there; we've read it, studied it perhaps, & by going to
> look it up one was perhaps lead to pay more attention than might
> otherwise be the case.
>
> But the poem can still hit, & perhaps there are still young readers (if
> there are any readers any more) who will find that poem & suddenly find
> that poetry isn't boring as it had been the few times a poem was taught
> in highschool....
> Doug
> On 29-May-07, at 6:05 AM, Pierre Joris wrote:
>
>> It's more about the problem of publishing the poem: when Jerry
>> Rothenberg & I were putting together the first vol of POEMS FOR THE
>> MILLENNIUM, we had wanted to include a section of the Waste Land. The
>> price Faber & Faber had asked for 4 pages of the work of David Jones
>> was do ridiculously above what we could afford (like a huge chunk of
>> the budget for permissions for the whole book) that we didn't even
>> bother asking them for Eliot rights. So Jones & Eliot have tombeaux in
>> the book, but no poems. -- Pierre
> Douglas Barbour
> 11655 - 72 Avenue NW
> Edmonton Ab T6G 0B9
> (780) 436 3320
> http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/
>
> Latest book: Continuations (with Sheila E Murphy)
> http://www.uap.ualberta.ca/UAP.asp?LID=41&bookID=664
>
>
> Of palaeopresence. The extra
> space around what is.
>
> Dennis Lee
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