Reconstructing Transmission of Text

  • The recorded variations are used to compare the publications and nonpublication of the text as a way of reconstructing the stages of composition and publication.
  • We then analyze the textual history of the work to choose which form of the test will be the underlying form of the critical edition (the copy-text).

Once the list of alterations has been verified, this list is used to reconstruct the transmission of the text from its creation to its publication. The alterations list is also used to analyze the textual history of the text in order to determine at what point each of the variations were published or created and which version of the text is the most accurate representation of George Santayana’s intention. The stemma chart from Step 1 (which is also shown here) is a partial example of the textual history.

The stemma chart below shows the stages of the text’s publication. Horizontal lines show that the same typesetting was used and that there were few changes made to the text aside from a new wrapper and copyright pages. The vertical lines mean that a new typesetting was used and that there are no changes to the text.

Diagram of Life of Reason Book V: Reason in Science 1906

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