By Tim Causer, on 24 May 2013
Welcome along to the progress update for the period 18 to 24 May 2013, during which time further steady progress has been made by Transcribe Bentham volunteers. 9,022 words of Bentham text were transcribed this week, along with 4,736 words of TEI mark-up.
5,605 manuscripts have now been transcribed or partially-transcribed, which is an increase of 20 on last week’s total. Of these transcripts, 5,324 (94.9%) have met the required standards and have been locked.
The more detailed state of progress is as follows:
Thank you, as always, to everyone has taken the time to transcribe something over the past seven days. It remains greatly appreciated by us all.
By Tim Causer, on 17 May 2013
Welcome along to the Transcribe Bentham progress update for the period 11 to 17 May 2013, during which time further good progress has been made by volunteer transcribers. 8,526 words of Bentham text have been transcribed this week, along with 3,469 words of TEI mark-up.
5,585 manuscripts have now been transcribed or partially-transcribed, which is an increase of 16 on last week’s total. Of these transcripts, 5,303 (94.9%!) are complete and locked. We are achingly close to reaching a completion rate of 95%.
The more detailed state of progress is as follows
One interesting find from the last week was JB/107/117/001, entitled ‘Expressing an image by colours’ (or ‘painting’, for the non-Benthamic among us). In this manuscript, Bentham offers tips on how various objects should be represented by artists, including how lighting, distance, opacity and so on (or ‘Opticks’) have to be taken into account. Particular attention is paid to where the ‘image to be expressed is of animated matter’, and that the artist must account for anatomy, movement, and the ability to discriminate ‘the effect produced upon the body by the general character of the mind of the individual’. The manuscript concludes by suggesting that a painter ‘should be a naturalist & a phisiologist [sic]‘. Thanks to Jonathan Targett for transcribing this one!
Thank you, as always, to everyone who has given their time and effort to Transcribe Bentham over the past seven days. It remains greatly appreciated by us all.
By Kris Grint, on 10 May 2013
Welcome to the 10 May edition of the Transcribe Bentham progress update, which details the transcription work carried out by our volunteer transcribers over the past 7 days. During this time 2,690 words have been transcribed, along with 1,009 words of TEI markup.
5,565 manuscripts have now been transcribed or partially-transcribed, which is an increase of 16 on last week’s total. Of these transcripts, 5,280 (94%) are complete and locked. A completion rate of 95% still eludes us – maybe next week!
The more detailed state of progress is as follows
A quick reminder that Box 41, containing material pertaining to Bentham’s massive, unfinished Constitutional Code, is now ready and waiting to be transcribed.
A few of our boxes are teetering on the brink of completion, and we would be very grateful if anyone might consider finishing off boxes 96 or 115! A full list of untranscribed manuscripts is available here.
As always, many thanks to everyone who has contributed to Transcribe Bentham over the last seven days. Your work is invaluable to us at the Bentham Project and very much appreciated.
By Tim Causer, on 3 May 2013
Welcome to the progress update for the period 27 April to 3 May 2013, during which time great further progress has been made by volunteer transcribers: 9,828 words have been transcribed over the past seven days, including TEI mark-up.
5,549 manuscripts have now been transcribed or partially-transcribed, which is an increase of 25 on last week’s total. Of these transcripts, 5,267 (94%) are complete and locked. We are now on the cusp of being able to say that 95% of all submitted transcripts
The more detailed state of progress is as follows
Box 107 was again the most heavily transcribed set of material during the last week. We are also glad to report that more material is also now available to transcribe: Box 41, containing material pertaining to Bentham’s massive, unfinished Constitutional Code.
Finds this week include Bentham discussing his scheme for counterfeit-proof banknotes (thanks to Joy Lloyd).
Earlier this week, the Bentham Project published electronically the preliminary text of the third volume of Bentham’s Not Paul, but Jesus, which has never been available before. In this work, Bentham discusses sexual morality, and argues that asceticism had been condemned by Jesus, whereas St Paul had taught and encouraged it. Bentham further argues that the reason why so many sexual practices were condemned or subject to harsh criminal penalties was owing to the teachings of Paul. This is an extremely important work, and has been edited by Philip Schofield, Catherine Pease-Watkin, and Michael Quinn, and has been encoded using a TEI schema developed by Kris Grint.
As always, we are extremely grateful to everyone who has taken part in Transcribe Bentham over the last seven days. It is very much appreciated by us all.
By Tim Causer, on 1 May 2013
We are pleased to say that another batch of new material, this time dating from 1823 to Bentham’s death in 1832, is now available to transcribe. Box 41 contains material relating to Bentham’s massive, unfinished Constitutional Code, the major work of his final years. The Code was addressed to ‘all nations and all governments professing liberal opinions’, as in the course of drafting it, Bentham had been encouraged that the Code might be adopted in Portugal, Greece, and a number of South American nations.
We hope that you find this material of interest, and enjoy attempting to decipher it! Do let us know if you have any queries.
