J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia Patches
[UPDATE: New version of the Corrigenda as of 2/15/2007]
As readers of this site know in excruciating detail, I was very frustrated in the way that the J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia was rushed into print without adequate final editing (even after I had done a lot of the editing; the marked-up pages still sit in my attic). I don't think I mentioned that I never saw the index before it was published, and I was given 48 hours to proof all of the final front matter (hey, at least they incorporated most of those corrections). But, as others have noted, the volume is less useful without a good table of contents that includes a list of authors and entries.
Well, my internet friends have solved that problem. Here, courtesy of Lara Sookoo, are links to a thematic list of entries and a list of contributors with their contributions, all with page numbers. These are pdf documents, so you can print then and put them with the Encyclopedia.
Thematic List
Contributors and Articles
And here, courtesy of Merlin deTardo, are links to a Word document of corrections and an Excel spreadsheet that lists articles and authors.
Corrigenda
Articles and Authors
As I've written before, I'd like to set up some kind of wiki-like entity for corrections and additions, and perhaps it will be possible, as some commenters have noted, for me to purchase the rights to the Encyclopedia from Taylor and Francis, finish editing it properly, and republish it, perhaps even with the illustrations that I spent weeks finding and soliciting. But that's in the future, as is my Beowulf Aloud CD (at the studio being duplicated) and upcoming daily podcast intended to cover the entire Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records over the course of a year or so. In the meanwhile, I want to thank Lara, Merlin and the on-line communities of Tolkien enthusiasts who have so effectively helped me.
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My life among the invertebrates
About Me
- Michael
- I am Professor of English and Director of the Center for the Study of the Medieval at Wheaton College, Norton, Mass., where I teach Old English (Anglo-Saxon), Middle English, medieval literature, fantasy, science fiction and writing. I am also a Millicent C. McIntosh Fellow. My scholarship is focused on tenth-century English literature and culture, meme-based theories of culture, and the works of J. R. R. Tolkien.
6 comments:
Great work, Lara and Merlin! :)
Though I'm afraid I already have a couple of corrigenda for Lara's Author Index. The entry, "The One Ring", was written by William Senior, not David Oberhelman. And Mr. Senior is, unfortunately, omitted from the index.
Even so, these are very helpful resources to have by one's elbow as one is systematically — or idiosyncratically, in my case — working through the Encyclopedia.
I should add that (before seeing this post) I had just sent Prof. Drout a revised version of the "Articles and Authors" spreadsheet: thanks to a nudge from squire, I had found a handful of spelling errors and one misattribution (Drout himself was identifed as the author of Janet Brennan Croft's "Shakespeare" article). Presumably the spreadsheet can be replaced on his site, and the link here maintained.
-Merlin DeTardo
I can't wait for the ASPR podcasts. When do you plan to start them? Will you just be reading aloud, or do you plan on commenting on the poems in some way?
Hello Professor Drout,
I share your concerns with the rushed organization of the Encyclopedia and would really love to help in anyway I can with improving the work.
I may be of assistance when it comes to wikis. I started Tolkien Gateway a few years ago and have been obsessed with them ever since. I wonder if we can somehow incorporate the Encyclopedia into the wiki as it already has a fairly strong userbase to assist us along with a lot of relevant information.
Ever since the Encyclopedia was released I had the hope of incorporating some of its information and referencing the book from the relevant articles on our wiki but have not begun that yet. We could even have sections in the articles which states “What the JRRT Encyclopedia has to say...”
If you haven't seen it yet we already have an article created for the Encyclopedia; feel free to make any changes you see fit. Hopefully we can get more fans interested.
I love the idea of creating a list of corrections to be made, and it would definitely make more sense to have the list editable by multiple people, we could setup an article on the wiki in no time if you like, just let me know.
I also like the idea of purchasing the rights to the Encyclopedia and if the cost is feasible please let me know and I can try and help in obtaining the funds.
If we can get enough people interested in working on this project we could even setup a channel on our IRC server.
Also if you would prefer a stand-alone wiki I would be happy to set one up and host it.
Okay I better stop there. Thanks for your time and thanks for all you've done for the Tolkien community.
-- Hyarion
Do you know how to incorporate business?
Prof. Drout, I’ve only now discovered the existence of these patch documents, thank you for providing them. Unfortunately I can get neither the Corrigenda Word document nor the spreadsheet to open.
(And btw, I think the previous two entries are spam and ought to be deleted)
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