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Progress update, 9 to 15 March 2013, and this week’s finds

By Tim Causer, on 15 March 2013

Welcome to the progress update for the period 9 to 15 March 2013, during which time excellent progress continues to be made: 29,505 words (including TEI mark-up) have been transcribed this week. Volunteers have made some great finds this week, more of which later.

5,243 manuscripts have now been transcribed or partially-transcribed, which is 38 up on last week’s total. Of these transcripts, 4,975 (94%) are complete and locked, an increase of 47 on this time last week. We should lock our 5,000th transcript at some point next week!

The more detailed state of progress is as follows:

  • Box 2: 390 manuscripts transcribed of 753 (51%)
  • Box 27: 350 of 350 (100%)
  • Box 35: 279 of 439 (63%)
  • Box 50: 134 of 198 (67%)
  • Box 51: 358 of 940 (38%)
  • Box 62: 53 of 565 (9%)
  • Box 70: 257 of 350 (73%)
  • Box 71: 663 of 663 (100%)
  • Box 72: 608 of 664 (91%)
  • Box 73: 151 of 151 (100%)
  • Box 79: 198 of 199 (99%)
  • Box 95: 119 of 147 (80%)
  • Box 96: 526 of 539 (97%)
  • Box 97: 52 of 296 (17%)
  • Box 98: 212 of 499 (42%)
  • Box 100: 145 of 422 (32%)
  • Box107:  76 of 538 (14%)
  • Box 115: 275 of 307 (89%)
  • Box 116: 359 of 864 (40%)
  • Box 139: 38 of 38 (100%)
  • Overall: 58% of the 8,925 manuscripts currently uploaded to the website have been transcribed thus far.

Box 107 has been the most heavily transcribed during the last week, and little wonder – it contains some really interesting panopticon-related material.

For example, volunteers Chris Leeder and Melissa Rogers transcribed more of Bentham’s panopticon kitchen recipes, including those for ‘turnip pudding’, ‘stewed pease’, and ‘mushroom catchup [sic]’. You can also read about my attempt to produce Bentham’s ‘baked apple pudding’, as part of the Journal of Victorian Culture‘s historical bake-off competition.

Bentham's baked apple pudding. Delicious.

Bentham’s baked apple pudding. Delicious.

 

Volunteer Joy Lloyd has transcribed several manuscripts on Bentham’s panoptic institution for women, or what he called the ‘Sotimion’. These include the various rules and regulations for the establishment, inducements to the women for the ‘preservation of their delicacy’, their ‘amusements’, including ‘poultry to tend’, ‘chess’, and a tantalising mention of something called a ‘Panopticon Music Barge’. Elsewhere, Bentham sets out the design of a chair for the comfort of heavily pregnant women,  suggests that the women would be able to row boats along the nearby canals, and describes what he calls ‘Russian Flying Chariots’ or the ‘Panopticon Flying Car’, which would act as a ride and a glorified shuttle service between parts of the panopticon.

Elsewhere, Keith Thompson and Peter Hollis transcribed manuscripts showing Bentham’s interest in chemistry and scientific experiments, Lea Stern worked on a manuscript pertaining to Bentham’s thoughts on counterfeit-proof banknotes, and Jonathan Targett transcribed a manuscript entitled ‘The art of forming an image in the mind & of expressing that image by lines, by shades, by colours, by moulding, by carving‘, or—for those of us who don’t speak Bentham—the art of drawing, painting, and carving.

Thank you, as always, to all who have given their time and effort to Transcribe Bentham during the last seven days. It remains greatly appreciated.

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