for 32 days, i am showing samples of the problems with the text in e-books from the internet archive... *** today's example is again from our friend from baltimore, edgar allen poe, this time volume 2 of his collected works. here's the scan for page 23:
http://www.archive.org/stream/worksofedgaralle02poee#page/23
here's the o.c.r. for the whole book:
http://ia341311.us.archive.org/2/items/worksofedgaralle02poee/worksofedgaral... and here's the o.c.r. for page 23:
NARPtATlVE OF A. GORDON PYM 23
thick fog in our favoi', it was agreed to lose no time in secreting me. Augustus led the way to the wharf, and I followed at a little distance, enveloped in a thick seaman's cloak, which he had brought with him, so that my person might not be easily recognized. Just as we turned the second corner, after passing Mr. Edmund's well, who should appear, standing right in front of me, and looking me full in the face, but old Mr. Peterson, my grandfather. ''Why, bless my soul, Gordon," said he, after a long pause, "why, why,— whose dirty cloak is that you have onV ' ' Sir ! " I replied, assuming, as well as I could, in the exigency of the moment, an air of offended surprise, and talking in the grufL'est of all imag- inable tones— ''sir! you are a sum 'mat mistaken —my name, in the first place, bee'nt nothing at all like Goddin, and I'd want you for to knov/ better, you blackguard, than to call my new ober- coat a darty one." For my life I could hardly refrain from screaming with laughter at the odd manner in which the old gentleman received this handsome rebuke. He started back two or threa steps, turned first pale and then excessively red, threw up his spectacles, then, putting them down, ran full tilt at me, with his umbrella up- lifted. He stopped short, however, in his career, as if struck with a sudden recollection; and presently, turning round, hobbled off down tiie street, shaking all the while with rage, and mut- tering between his teeth: "Won't do— new glaf^eis— thought it was Gordon— d—d good-for- nothinf' salt water Lonj? Tom. ' '
there are a number of o.c.r. mistakes here that you might or might not see at first, including "favor", "on?", "gruffest", "know", "three", "the", "glasses", "nothing", and "long", plus some problems with floating punctuation and doublequotes, and of course the missed italics... shows how the errors in even a single page can mount up to something significant... -bowerbird