William Adams wrote : On Jul 14, 2010, at 6:16 AM, François Charette wrote:
>> Still, I cannot refrain from asking: what is exactly the point of >> such fonts? Any edition of an historical text should be first and >> foremost legible and intelligible to modern readers, without distracting >> them. To accurately reproduce an original source, digital color photos >> do a far better job, no? > Yes, but such photos aren't searchable or > indexable --- they're also significantly larger in terms of file size > and are quite difficult to update and alter to correct errors or reflect > modern sensibilities. I agree with all except (possibly) the last part : what exactly do you mean by "reflect modern sensibilities" ? Would you advocate changing the wording of a reproduction of a historical document solely because its original wording might these days be found offensive by some ? Thomas Bowdler might rejoice, but speaking personally I would value historical accuracy over political correctness any day of the week. > (whose wife purchased a reproduction of The Declaration of Independence > for him as a Christmas gift last year: > http://mbelloff.tripod.com/goddardbroadside.html --- we got the first > edition w/ the original wording, but there's a new one w/ updated, more > inclusive wording) Hmmm, with all due respect, "a new one with updated, more inclusive wording" seems like an oxymoron to me. Surely the Declaration of Independence is a historical document, and any attempt to tamper with its wording, no matter how well motivated, will simply result in at best a pastiche and at worst a pure work of fiction ? Philip Taylor -------------------------------------------------- Subscriptions, Archive, and List information, etc.: http://tug.org/mailman/listinfo/xetex
