[COMPLETE] The Heads of Cerberus by Francis Stevens - tg

MolehillMtn · Post by **MolehillMtn** » August 18th, 2021, 9:08 pm

The Heads of Cerberus, by Francis Stevens (1883 - 1948)

This project is now complete! All audio files can be found on our catalog page: https://librivox.org/the-heads-of-cerberus-by-francis-stevens/

Summary:

A pioneering work in the alternate worlds genre, The Heads of Cerberus was serialized in The Thrill Book in 1919 and published as a novel in 1952. A vial of grey dust transports three unwitting time travelers to a totalitarian version of Philadelphia in the year 2118. While certain landmarks stand unchanged, the societal structure is unrecognizable. Superlative adjectives and numbered buttons have replaced names and an oligarchy wield godlike power over the masses. To return home, the trio must win over the Loveliest, outsmart the Cleverest, and survive a deadly competition. (Summary by MolehillMtn)

Source text (please read only from this text!): https://archive.org/details/mundyking--ofthekhyberrifles191617_201911/Stevens%20-%20The%20Heads%20of%20Cerberus%20%281919%29/page/n1/mode/1up

Target completion date: 2022-07-31

Prooflistening level: Standard
Prospective PLs, please see the Guide for Proof-listeners.

IMPORTANT - soloist, please note: in order to limit the number of languishing projects on our server, we ask that you post an update at least once a month in your project thread, even if you haven't recorded anything. If we don't hear from you for three months, your project may be opened up to a group project if a Book Coordinator is found. Files you have completed will be used in this project. If you haven't recorded anything yet, your project will be removed from the forum (contact any admin to see if it can be re-instated).

Please don't download or listen to files belonging to projects in process unless you are the BC or PL. Our servers are not set up to handle the greater volume of traffic. Please wait until the project has been completed. Thanks!

Magic Window:

BC Admin

LibriVox recording settings: mono (1 channel), 44100 Hz sample rate, 128 kbps constant bit rate MP3. See the Tech Specs

Intro to recording:
Leave 0.5 to 1 second of silence at the beginning.

For the first section, say:

"Section (or Chapter) # of The Heads of Cerberus. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org." [Optional: "Read by your name."] "The Heads of Cerberus, by Francis Stevens. Section Title."

For the second and subsequent sections, you may use the shortened intro if you wish:

"Section (or Chapter) # of The Heads of Cerberus, by Francis Stevens. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain." [Optional: "Read by your name."] "Section Title."

End of recording:
Say:

"End of section (or chapter) #." [Optional, and if not stated in the intro: "Read by your name, city, date."]

If you are recording the final section of the book, add:

"End of The Heads of Cerberus, by Francis Stevens."

Leave 5 seconds of silence at the end.

Filename: headsofcerberus_##_stevens_128kb.mp3 where ## is the section number. (e.g. headsofcerberus_01_stevens_128kb.mp3)

Upload to the LibriVox Uploader: https://librivox.org/login/uploader

MC to select: TriciaG

Copy and paste the file link generated by the uploader into the relevant Listen URL field in the Section Compiler, enter the duration in the Notes field, and post in this thread to let your PL and MC know that you have uploaded a file. You may also post the file link in the thread.

Post by **TriciaG** » August 19th, 2021, 11:37 am

Hmm. I can't open that type of file to check the PD status of the text. Is there any way to see it as html or PDF or something?

MolehillMtn · Post by **MolehillMtn** » August 19th, 2021, 2:27 pm

TriciaG wrote: ↑August 19th, 2021, 11:37 am Hmm. I can't open that type of file to check the PD status of the text. Is there any way to see it as html or PDF or something?

I ran it through a converter to make it a pdf here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GAB9Byv46WpmH0YS5G10HL0EWjcLVrQ6/view?usp=sharing
Are you able to access it?

If it helps, the linked website lists the publication date as 1919 (further down on this page http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2580/the-heads-of-cerberus), it was categorized as PD there, and LibriVox has a few recordings by the same author already (including one with a later copyright date).

For future reference, what's the go-to LV way of checking whether something is in PD? That way, I can do a better job of screening things before trying to start a project.

Post by **TriciaG** » August 20th, 2021, 2:39 pm

Hmm. It was published in serial form in a magazine in 1919, and not made into a book until 1952. The cover shown is for the 1952 edition.

They say their source is Gutenberg. Gutenberg has it on the Australian site, not on their US one. That makes me nervous that either it's not PD in the US, or the US copyright isn't clear. (It can be on Australia because that's a Death+Years country, so the publishing date doesn't matter.)

Archive has some of the Thrill Book magazines (where it was originally serialized), but not the ones with this story in it (which would start with vol 2 no 4 and run for a few issues). Hathi doesn't have The Thrill Book.

So... I'm leery. Stay tuned; the admins are hashing this out.

MolehillMtn · Post by **MolehillMtn** » August 21st, 2021, 12:06 am

Thanks for the update and sorry for all the unexpected extra footwork…
I’ll hold off on recording anything until you make a call.

Post by **TriciaG** » August 21st, 2021, 4:39 pm

Yeah, this one is a no-go.

It looks like the text on Feedbooks is using the 1952 edition, which hasn't been copyright cleared. The mention of the source being Gutenberg is the Gutenberg Australia site, and they follow Australian rules rather than US ones.

IF we could find the original "Thrill Book" issues, we could use those, but the search for those have been unsuccessful.

I'm going to pop this over to Book Suggestions. Perhaps someone with experience getting copyright clearance through PG might want to take this one on and figure out if its copyright was renewed, and all the other criteria needed to copyright clear this puppy.

InTheDesert · Post by **InTheDesert** » August 21st, 2021, 6:36 pm

https://archive.org/details/mundyking--ofthekhyberrifles191617_201911/Stevens%20-%20The%20Heads%20of%20Cerberus%20%281919%29/page/n1/mode/1up

Post by **TriciaG** » August 22nd, 2021, 5:15 am

Wow! How did you find that?

Molehill, if you'd be willing to use that scan, we can proceed with this.

InTheDesert · Post by **InTheDesert** » August 22nd, 2021, 6:02 am

TriciaG wrote: ↑August 22nd, 2021, 5:15 am Wow! How did you find that?

Molehill, if you'd be willing to use that scan, we can proceed with this.

An old trick

Use the 'search text contents' option in the archive.org and search for a phrase/sentence that you know appears in the work.

MolehillMtn · Post by **MolehillMtn** » August 23rd, 2021, 11:42 pm

InTheDesert wrote: ↑August 22nd, 2021, 6:02 am
TriciaG wrote: ↑August 22nd, 2021, 5:15 am Wow! How did you find that?

Molehill, if you'd be willing to use that scan, we can proceed with this.
An old trick Use the 'search text contents' option in the archive.org and search for a phrase/sentence that you know appears in the work.

This is brilliant, InTheDesert! Thanks so much for your help

The linked scans look like they’ll work well, so I’m all set to move forward

Thanks for bearing with me, Tricia.

MolehillMtn · Post by **MolehillMtn** » August 24th, 2021, 5:00 pm

I updated the original post with the new Thrill Book link.
Rookie question: Is it alright that I added a "~" to the post's name (since this project doesn't have a DPL yet)? Wasn't sure whether that was something that MCs do...

Post by **TriciaG** » August 25th, 2021, 6:36 am

That's some thing you can do (and apparently did).

OK, this is set up. As you're the soloist, you're in charge of updating the Magic Window.

Detailed Instructions for accessing the Magic Window can be found in the document linked here:
Instructions for Soloists

Video showing how to use the Magic Window (read the above document first - it has the information on how to log in for the first time, which this does not have):
Magic Windows / Section Compiler: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOP4tcr1kl8

I've entered the first three chapters for you as an example. You can fill in the rest, and modify the chapter naming scheme if you like.

When you upload a chapter, put the file duration (mm:ss) in the Notes field and the uploaded URL into the Listen URL field, and mark it from Assigned to Ready for PL.

---

I noticed your summary/intro is by Feedbooks. That's probably under some copyright usage restriction, so it's best to come up with someone of your own. Maybe your DPL can help with this. It's not needed until cataloging time, so you've got time to work it out.

MolehillMtn · Post by **MolehillMtn** » August 25th, 2021, 9:53 pm

Thanks, Tricia! I made a note that the summary needs to be written and I’ll fill out the MW tomorrow.
Hoping to get a chapter or two recorded this weekend…

Post by **TriciaG** » August 26th, 2021, 3:59 pm

Moving to Going Solo...

MolehillMtn · Post by **MolehillMtn** » August 30th, 2021, 4:13 pm

Chapter 1 is uploaded and should be ready for PL in the magic window! The story really hits the ground running...or at least hits the guy on his head.

Since this is my first time having BC duties, please let me know whether everything was handled correctly.