Progress update, 29 October to 4 November

Welcome to the progress update for the period 29 October to 4 November 2011, during which rapid progress continues to be made.

2,145 manuscripts have now been transcribed, up 53 on last week; this is, at the very least, 536,000 words (plus all of the encoding). Remarkable stuff. Of these, 1,890 (88%) are now complete and locked to prevent further editing, an increase of 47 on last week’s total.

The state of progress for each box is as follows:

• Box 2: 204 manuscripts transcribed of 532 (38%)
• Box 27: 237 of 350 (67%)
• Box 35: 226 of 439 (51%)
• Box 50: 39 of 92 (42%)
• Box 51: 37 of 940 (4%)
• Box 62: 24 of 565 (4%)
• Box 70: 160 of 250 (45%)
• Box 71: 252 of 665 (38%)
• Box 72: 121 of 664 (18%)
• Box 73: 118 of 156 (75%)
• Box 79: 61 of 199 (30%)
• Box 95: 44 of 147 (30%)
• Box 96: 352 of 539 (65%)
• Box 97: 6 of 288 (2%)
• Box 115: 226 of 307 (73%)
• Box 139: 38 of 38 (100%)
• Overall: 38% of the 5,580 manuscripts uploaded to the website have been transcribed thus far.

Boxes 71 and 96 saw the most activity this week, with 4% and 3% of their respective manuscripts being transcribed in the last seven days. As noted on the Facebook page earlier this week, Bentham Project staff are working on Bentham’s economic writings for a forthcoming volume of the Collected Works; much of this material is contained within Box 2, and if volunteers are able, amongst their transcribing, to have a look at the odd manuscript from this box it would be very much appreciated.

There was much excitement this week, as Bentham’s Auto-Icon was removed from its cabinet as part of renovation works here at UCL (and carrying it around ranks as one of my more bizarre experiences). Bentham’s box has now been cleaned, polished and had new lighting installed so that visitors can have a better look at the man himself. Other improvements to the area include a new graphic panel with some information about Bentham’s life, and a touch-screen computer on which visitors can find out much more about the man and his thought. There are a few photographs available on the Transcribe Bentham Facebook page

While out of his box, some wonderful photographs of Bentham have been taken by Tony Slade of UCL Learning and Media Services, which we will soon be able to show you. We recommend that you also keep an eye on the UCL Museums and Collections website. All of the plaudits for this very successful renovation should go to Sussanah Chan, Rosemary Clements, Sally MacDonald, and Claire Ross, Alejandro Giacometti, and Steven Gray for programming the touchscreen.

Thanks, as ever, to all those who have generously given their time and efforts during the last week – it is hugely appreciated.