Ben WelshNov 26, 2022

Thanks to a contribution by @k9, our open-source E. E. Cummings database now includes all "Five Americans."

https://cummings.ee/book/is-5/

Here's how you can get involved:

https://github.com/palewire/cummings.ee/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md

Need a hand getting started? Let me know.

is 5

Published in 1926 by Boni & Liveright, this book entered the public domain in 2022.

cummings.ee
Show threadBen Welsh

Now that we have a first edition of "is 5" as a reference, I've updated our table of contents to reflect the original publication.

https://github.com/palewire/cummings.ee/pull/159/

It offers the God-mode challenge of writing the custom CSS to properly republish "life hurl my."

Who's up to take it on?

Update 'is 5' table of contents by palewire · Pull Request #159 · palewire/cummings.ee

This change will conform with the original TOC in the first edition.

GitHub
Nov 27, 2022 at 12:02amWeb
Show threadBen WelshNov 27, 2022

While I'm here I transcribed this poem myself. For no reason whatsoever. None.

https://cummings.ee/book/is-5/poem/one-xxiii/

slighty before the middle of Congressman Pudd

A poem by E. E. Cummings in “is 5”

cummings.ee
Show threadBen WelshNov 27, 2022

Our newest volunteer, @miklb.com, pulled out a rare ` writing-mode: vertical-rl;` CSS trick to properly publish "life hurl my"

https://cummings.ee/book/is-5/poem/one-xl/

life hurl my

A poem by E. E. Cummings in “is 5”

cummings.ee
Show threadBen WelshNov 29, 2022

Not so fast!

It turns out, no pun intended, that “life hurl my” has been inconsistently published.

My 1st edition of “is 5” shows it rotated 90 degrees clockwise.

Firmage's “Complete Poems,” which scholars consider authoritative on Cummings' intent, shows the opposite!

Show threadForest GreggNov 29, 2022
@palewire oh wow! what are you going to do?
Show threadBen WelshNov 29, 2022

@fgregg in other less fundamental cases I've deferred to Firmage, on the advice of a group of scholars I consult.

Here I'd like to find out the story. Since I'm curious. Asking around now.

Show threadDylan FreedmanNov 27, 2022
@palewire I'm now envisioning a CSS puzzle game to typeset e e cummings poems faithfully
Show threadBen WelshNov 27, 2022
@dylan it's waiting for you https://github.com/palewire/cummings.ee/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md
cummings.ee/CONTRIBUTING.md at master · palewire/cummings.ee

A collection of the work of Edward Estlin Cummings, as it enters the public domain. - cummings.ee/CONTRIBUTING.md at master · palewire/cummings.ee

GitHub
Show threadDylan FreedmanNov 27, 2022
@palewire ah when the time permits. Love your contribution guide (and project generally)
Show threadNick Kocharhook 🇺🇦💪🏼Nov 30, 2022

@palewire Hi Ben! The scan of "is 5" on Archive.org has a fair bit of compression artifacts. In this case, for example, is it "O," in the third paragraph? "(),"? Or is it <sub>1</sub>? Any chance of getting scans that are a bit less compressed? ☺️

Also curious about "oDE" at the top of the page, is that actually the first line of the poem?? If not, it will just be left out of the transcription, right?

I bet ol' e.e. would be tickled we're wrapped in knots translating his work into the 21st C!

Show threadNick Kocharhook 🇺🇦💪🏼Dec 6, 2022
@palewire Wanted to make sure these questions didn’t get lost. Do any different editions help with the “oDE” one? Also, I can open a GitHub issue if that’s preferred.
Show threadNick Kocharhook 🇺🇦💪🏼Dec 6, 2022

@palewire oh, I’ve just re-read it, and it now looks to me like this is:

o

O<sub>l</sub>

o

ld

How do we represent <sub> tags in the YAML?