A Guide to Documentary Editing

A how-to guide to every step of the editing process in the electronic information age―from planning a project to preparing the edition for the publisher

First published in 1987 and widely acclaimed, A Guide to Documentary Editing is now available in a new and completely revised edition. Drawing on the experience of dozens of editorial projects, the author details every step of the editing process as now practiced in the electronic information age―planning a project, organizing materials, evaluating and transcribing texts, applying textual and editorial conventions, and preparing the edition for the publisher. The author even makes cautious predictions about future forms of electronic documentary publication: CD-ROMs, locally available text bases, and Internet sites. In addition, the author brings up to date her survey of literature in areas such as document selection, annotation, and non-verbal sources. Editors of such historical and literary documents as correspondence, journals, diaries, financial records, professional papers, and unpublished manuscripts will find this book an indispensable companion.

Mary-Jo Kline is curator, Special Collections, at the John Hay Library, Brown University.