COMPLETE - Chapters from my Autobiography by Mark Twain

johng · Post by **johng** » February 7th, 2006, 4:07 pm

This work is complete. All files are available here:
http://librivox.org/chapters-from-my-authobiography-by-mark-twain/

I would like to volunteer to read this great book. I have it in hand and would have fun reading it again for the project.

LibraryLady · Post by **LibraryLady** » February 7th, 2006, 5:58 pm

Hi John and welcome! I'm afraid I have bad news, Twain's autobiography was not published until 1924 which means it is still under copyright according to U.S. laws. On librivox we are restricted to works in the public domain, which means published prior to 1923.

I hope you'll have a look around some of the projects already in progress and get a feel for things with some short pieces, jumping into a solo project is a *lot* of work!

thistlechick · Post by **thistlechick** » February 8th, 2006, 11:10 am

actually, he published several chapters of his autobiography in 1906 in the North American review (v. 183-186, 1906-07)... I'll see if I can dig up more information for you.

Gesine · Post by **Gesine** » February 8th, 2006, 11:26 am

Aaah... I'll take my subject edit off, then :)

thistlechick · Post by **thistlechick** » February 8th, 2006, 11:47 am

Here is the notice for copyright renewal for the 1924 publication:
http://shelf1.library.cmu.edu/Projects/crr/1952/1952-1-271.tif

So, that is indeed, not available for us to reproduce for Librivox....

However, the 1906/07 publication is still a possiblity. The archives of the North American Review from 1815-1900 are online at http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/browse.journals/nora.html ... which doesn't help us much, but there are libraries that have this magazine on microfilm (and possibly in paper) .... let me know if would like me to further purse obtaining a copy of this for you.

LibraryLady · Post by **LibraryLady** » February 8th, 2006, 1:56 pm

Cool, I didn't realize some of it had been published in his lifetime! My understanding was he didn't want it published until he'd been dead at least ten years because of all the people he'd piss off.

thistlechick · Post by **thistlechick** » February 8th, 2006, 2:07 pm

Here's the bibliographic record listed in Library of Congress:
http://catalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v3=8&ti=1,8&SEQ=20060208160645&Search%5FArg=mark%20twain%20autobiography&Search%5FCode=FT%2A&CNT=25&PID=14641&SID=2

johng · Post by **johng** » February 9th, 2006, 10:18 am

I would still like to do this sometime...I know I need to "prove" my system with a small project (poem, etc.) and I plan to do that once I receive my Headset/mic from Logitech...but could the search continue for the published material???
Thanks

thistlechick · Post by **thistlechick** » February 9th, 2006, 10:48 am

Sure thing! I'll get the process started for locating the printed materials you need =)

johng · Post by **johng** » February 9th, 2006, 10:57 am

thanks,
I have a search going also!
Let you know if I get it locally.
(my wife is a librarian!! :-) )

thistlechick · Post by **thistlechick** » February 9th, 2006, 11:01 am

johng wrote:thanks,
I have a search going also!
Let you know if I get it locally.
(my wife is a librarian!! )

yes, we librarians are pretty clever like that

johng · Post by **johng** » February 9th, 2006, 11:15 am

THE Bangor Public Library has them waiting for me. (volumes 183-186)!!!
I'll check them out...copy them and take the issues back tomorrow.

thistlechick · Post by **thistlechick** » February 9th, 2006, 11:17 am

johng wrote:THE Bangor Public Library has them waiting for me. (volumes 183-186)!!!
I'll check them out...copy them and take the issues back tomorrow.

Awesome! I wonder if we can scan them and submit them to Project Gutenberg too.... oh, one thing at a time heheh

johng · Post by **johng** » February 9th, 2006, 11:21 am

thistlechick wrote:
johng wrote:THE Bangor Public Library has them waiting for me. (volumes 183-186)!!!
I'll check them out...copy them and take the issues back tomorrow.
Awesome! I wonder if we can scan them and submit them to Project Gutenberg too.... oh, one thing at a time heheh

I can do that at home!!
I'll need some guidance as to where to send...

thistlechick · Post by **thistlechick** » February 9th, 2006, 11:33 am

johng wrote: I can do that at home!!
I'll need some guidance as to where to send...

here's what I recommend... scan the pages at 300 dpi resolution ... we can then run them through OCR software (optical character recognition) which turns the image into actual text... then manually proofread it to be sure that the computer did it right.

We'll also need to submit it to Project Gutenberg for copyright clearance... so, also scan the covers of the magazines and the pages that show the date and publication information... I've never submitted part of a publication before, so, I'm not completely sure how they will handle it... we'll do our best...

Here is the page where PG copyright clearance requests are submitted... you are welcome to do it yourself, or I'd be happy to do it for you. http://copy.pglaf.org/index.php