for 32 days, i am showing samples of the problems
with the text in e-books from the internet archive...
***
today's example is from "the turn of the screw".
here's the scan for page 123:
> http://www.archive.org/stream/twomagicsturnofs00jameuoft#page/123
here's the o.c.r. for the whole book:
> http://ia331312.us.archive.org/0/items/twomagicsturnofs00jameuoft/twomagicsturnofs00jameuoft_djvu.txt
and here's the o.c.r. for page 123:
>
> THE TURN OF THE SCREW 123
>
> He turned it over. " Very likely. But what
> things ? "
>
> " The things you've never told me. To make up
> his mind what to do with you. He can't send you
> back "
>
> " Oh, I don't want to go back ! " he broke in. " I
> want a new field."
>
> He said it with admirable serenity, with positive
> unimpeachable gaiety ; and doubtless it was that very
> note that most evoked for me the poignancy, the
> unnatural childish tragedy, of his probable reappear
> ance at the end of three months with all this bravado
> and still more dishonour. It overwhelmed me now
> I that I should never be able to bear that, and it made
> i me let myself go. I threw myself upon him and in the
> I tenderness of my pity I embraced him. " Dear little
> Miles, dear little Miles 1 "
>
> My face was close to his, and he let me kiss him,
> simply taking it with indulgent goodhumour. " Well,
> old lady ? "
>
> " Is there nothing nothing at all that you want to
> tell me ? "
>
> He turned off a little, facing round toward the wall
> and holding up his hand to look at as one had seen
> sick children look. " I've told you I told you this
> morning."
>
> Oh, I was sorry for him ! " That you just want me
> not to worry you ? "
>
> He looked round at me now, as if in recognition of
> my understanding him; then ever so gently, "To let
> me alone," he replied.
>
> There was even a singular little dignity in it, some-
spacey quotes, spacey question-marks, spacey exclamation-points,
an exclamation-point misrecognized as "1", missing em-dashes and
a missing end-of-line hyphen, are all errors occurring on this page.
in addition, and more subtle, there are some extra characters
at the left-hand margin in the middle of the fourth paragraph.
i looked at other scan-sets of this book too, and found that many
had been marked by patrons, introducing yet another ironic fact --
the more popular a book is, the more times it has been checked out,
and the greater the likelihood that a patron has made marks in it...
-bowerbird