Abbreviations, references and cross-references

General abbreviations used throughout

ch. the chapter, always followed by its number

K a text downloaded to Kindle, always followed by ‘K:’ and the number of its ‘location’

L the Pilgrim edition of the Letters, edited by Graham Storey, Kathleen Tillotson and Madeline House, et al., 12 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982–2002), always followed by volume and page, e.g. L5:267 (vol.5, p. 267)

List Dickens’s “List of Chapter Headings”

MS the manuscript of the novel Dombey and Son6

No. the monthly instalment, always followed by its number, e.g. No.5 the fifth instalment

Ws. a worksheet compiled for an instalment, always followed by the number of the instalment, e.g. Ws.15 the worksheet for the fifteenth instalment.

References

1. For the text of Dombey and Son: reference is to the text in the hardback edition in the Clarendon Dickens series, edited by Alan Horsman (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1974) and to the same text in the paperback, also edited by Alan Horsman, in the Oxford World’s Classics series (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008)—shown by bracketed page only, for example: (250270), i.e. p.250 in hardback and p.270 superscripted in paperback.
2. For the materials other than the text in the hardback Clarendon edition: reference is to the Introduction, the Appendixes or the footnotes—shown, for example by: Horsman 1974, ‘Introduction’, p.xxxvi, or Horsman 1974, p.289 n.2.
3. For deletions/additions to the text of Dombey and Son: reference is to the footnotes of the Clarendon edition (1974) (see above) and to ebook 821, Project Gutenberg, http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/821 (released 01/02/1997).
4. For Forster’s Life of Charles Dickens: reference is to the single volume edition edited by J. W. T. Ley, and to ebook 25851, Project Gutenberg, http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25851 (released 1 February, 1997), downloaded to Kindle (with images), shown by page in Ley with the Kindle locations superscripted, for example: (Life 857K:17253).
5. For Dickens’s letters that are not in quoted in Forster’s Life: reference is to the Pilgrim edition of the Letters, edited by Graham Storey, Kathleen Tillotson and Madeline House, et al., 12 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982–2002)—shown by volume and page, for example thus: (L5:267).

The editor has had to avoid using direct online references to ebook 25851 in Project Gutenberg, because of their frequency in this ebook. Instead, he asks those readers, without access to Ley’s edition, to download ebook 25851 using the free Kindle app (for PC, tablet and reader) and refer to ‘location’ numbers in that edition. The inconvenience of using Kindle has to be measured against the hindrances that Project Gutenberg puts in place to discourage repeated use of the same text by the same user.

Repeated calls on the same text eventually produces multiple interruptions, halting first at the Project’s catalogue, then at a captcha, and finally at an instruction to stop using the text. This admirable Project seems not yet to have devised a way of distinguishing between users whom they can trust not to abuse frequent reference from those who copy texts, perhaps with robots, to re-sell them to an unsuspecting public for their own profit.

As there is no shared referencing system between any of the e-readers, the editor has had to choose an e-reader. The Kindle app for mobi is selected because its ‘locations’ (every 128 bytes) are reliable and frequent—and for no other reason. The improved Kindle app for PC laptop and smartphone, although in some respects it is not the easiest to manage, has all of the usual functions that enable the reader to note, copy, search and move quickly (using ‘Ctrl + G’) to any location.

Cross-references

1. To a passage in this book—reference is made by page number for readers of the print version, and by ‘live’ bookmark or page number for readers of electronic versions, e.g. the cover design (p.viii).
2. To the text of a repeated endnote—reference is made by ‘endnote’ followed by the endnote number for readers of the print version, which is ‘live’ for readers of electronic versions.
3. To entries within a worksheet—reference is made either by the worksheet number and the relevant marginal number (subscripted) that is ‘live’ for readers of electronic version, e.g. ‘Ws.105’—or simply by the marginal number in brackets, if the context shows the number of the worksheet that is under consideration.
4. Marginal numbers whether standing alone or subscripted, for technical reasons, have to be part of the ‘image’ of each transcription. Consequently, it is not possible to make the marginal number itself a ‘live’ link to where the number occurs in the transcription.
5. References to a marginal number are by the page number of its transcription (live for readers of the electronic version). For example, ‘Ws.105’ might be followed by a live page number ‘p.83’, which will take readers to the ‘Transcription for Ws.10’. They should then scan the margins of the transcribed worksheet to find ‘5’ and the entry to which the number refers.