Editorial Rules

THE COLLECTED LETTERS OF
BERTRAND RUSSELL

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1. TRANSCRIPTION RULES
    

   “As I shall be regarded as the author, I have, I think, a right to say what shall be printed as purporting to be by me.” (BR to Simon and Schuster, 3 Aug. 1948)
   
   Occasional handwriting puzzles apart, Bertrand Russell’s writing is ready for publication. These rules produce a text that reflects what he put on the page. Exceptions to the rules are explicit. For textual queries and original letter layouts, consult the scans of the originals or photocopies accompanying the transcriptions.

   1. Layout  
      1. Indentation  
         1. No indents for the salutation, paragraphing, valediction, signature or postscript.
         2. All lines are printed flush left, except for the return address (1.1.2.1) and date (1.1.2.2).
         3. All lines are unjustified.
      2. Line Spacing. Various parts of a letter are laid out as follows:  
         1. Return address (set flush right).
         2. Date (set flush right).
         3. Recipient’s address (moved up if it’s at the foot of a letter).
            Line space (i.e., a blank line).
         4. Salutation (separated, if need be, from the first paragraph).
            Line space.
         5. First paragraph.
            Line space.
         6. … paragraph(s)
            Line space.
2. 1. 2. 7. Final paragraph.
            Line space.
         8. Valediction (separated, if need be, from the final paragraph) on as many lines as Russell used.
            Line space.
         9. Signature.
            Line space.
         10. Postscript(s).
             Line space between each postscript.
         11. When an element is missing in a letter, no line space is left in its place.
      3. Displayed Text
         1. Left-indented as a block. No line space is left above or below displayed text, except when a paragraph break follows the display, or it is poetry that is displayed.
      4. Telegrams:
         1. Ignoring telegraphic symbols, treat a telegram as much as possible like a letter, following the layout at 1.1.2.
         2. Retain a sent telegram’s full capitalization (including addresses), and do not impose punctuation on the telegram.
         3. Treat the date-stamp at the receiving end like a postmark.
   1. 1. 5. Signature or Initial(s)
            1. For the signature, transcribe only what is there.
            2. Transcribe the signature on a separate line with no line space between it and any valediction.
            3. For a typed letter with BR’s signature, include the term “<signed>” before BR’s name, and transcribe any typed name.
      2. Letter Addresses
         1. BR’s address
            1. Transcribe it as in the holograph or typed letter (with superscript letters lowered).
            2. If the address is printed on letterhead, insert “<letterhead>” on the previous line, retaining capitalization and reserving italics for any underlining by BR of the address.
            3. If the letter has no return address, insert (if known) BR’s return address in angle brackets.
            4. Addresses are placed below the horizontal rule below the Letter Heading.
            5. In the absence of conventional line breaks, add them, respecting printed letterhead line breaks.
            6. Ignore printed letterhead addresses that Russell deleted before mailing.
            7. Ignore telegraphic code names and telephone, office and archival numbers (except possibly in a note).
         2. Addressee’s address
            1. The addressee’s address, if there is one, is transcribed as in the holograph or typed letter.
            2. It is placed flush left on the line below the date and is moved there if it is found elsewhere.
            3. Record the envelope’s address and postmark in an envelope annotation.
      3. Letter Dates
         1. In the Letter Heading:
            1. Each letter is dated as fully as possible on the recipient line in the Letter Heading, using the format “1 JAN. 1900” and, as necessary, “c.” (see 3.10) and square brackets to indicate inferred parts of a date, as it is from a postmark.
            2. Month abbreviations are as in the Collected Papers.
         2. In the Transcription:
            1. The letter’s date (if any) is transcribed as Russell gave it in the holograph or typed letter, but with superscript letters lowered and followed by a period to replace the superscripting.
            2. Dates written on the holograph or typed letter by other people, or later by Russell, are ignored in the transcription, but dealt with if needed in annotation.
            3. The letter’s date is placed below Russell’s address.
            4. Discrepancies between the Letter Heading date and the date on the transcription are explained in a date annotation.
            5. Letter dates, days of the week and times of the day that are found later in a letter are left positioned where they are found.
      4. Abbreviations
         1. Those beginning with a capital letter are not expanded (but with superscript letters lowered and followed by a period to replace the superscripting).
            1. Annotations may expand abbreviations on their first appearance in the letter.
         2. “I.e.” and “e.g.” are followed by a comma in editorial matter.
         3. All other abbreviations are expanded, except for:
            1. Acronyms ordinarily found in print (use the Concise Oxford English Dictionary as a guide).
            2. Those that might be of special interest, such as a logician’s shorthand.
            3. Those that occur formulaically in the salutation and valediction.
            4. Ordinal abbreviations (“1st”, etc.).
      5. Italics and underlining
         1. Underlining in holograph and typed letters is converted to italics:
            1. Double underlining is transcribed as italic plus underlining (for now; convert to small caps later if the typesetting programme permits).
            2. Triple underlining (and more) is transcribed as italic plus underlining with a note.
         2. Italics are also used for book and journal titles, names of ships, works of art, and foreign phrases:
            1. Italicize titles of unpublished stand-alone works whose titles are not quoted.
            2. Add quote marks rather than italics to titles of works that aren’t stand-alone (i.e., which are parts of other works), recording the additions in textual notes.
         3. Logical/mathematical variables are italicized.
      6. Punctuation
         1. Dashes are printed as em-dashes with a variable space on either side.
         2. Apparent dashes frequently appear in Russell’s intimate correspondence, perhaps inadvertently in the haste of writing:
            1. Replace the “dash” by a period where it occurs at the end of a paragraph, the valediction or the signature.
            2. Replace it by a period where, not following a period, it occurs before a capitalized word that is not normally capitalized.
            3. Replace it by a period where, not following a period, it occurs before a name or “I”, a judgment being made as to whether what follows is a new sentence.
         3. Ellipsis dots are regularized to three, or to four where the ellipsis includes the period at the end of the sentence.
         4. Retain the periods, if any, in retained abbreviations in the body of a letter.
      7. Placement of original footnotes, after-thoughts and postscripts
         1. Transcribe a footnote (between rules consisting of 8 em-dashes in Times New Roman, flushed left) immediately following the paragraph in which it is marked.
         2. With a blank line between each one, place after-thoughts and postscripts following a blank line after the last line of the signature.
            1. If needed, describe the placement of after-thoughts and postscripts in annotation.
      8. Corrections
         1. Whether in English or a foreign language, correct spelling and grammatical errors silently, with a textual note. E.g., “Misspelt as ‘francisense’.”
            1. Where Russell’s original is unavailable and only a transcription survives, transcription errors are corrected silently, in most cases without notes.
         2. With proper names, correct them only in the annotation (since misspelling a name may be significant).
         3. Add missing words in angle brackets.
      9. Foreign languages
         1. A foreign-language letter is translated in the final note to the letter.
         2. Quotations of foreign-language sentences (but not necessarily isolated phrases) are translated in notes.
             
   2. LETTER HEADING
      1. First line provides the Letter number (if the series is numbered) in bold.
      2. Second line includes only “BR TO XX” and the date (formatted as in 1.3.1.1) in bold caps.
         1. When BR’s recipient isn’t a person, the name of a relevant person in the organization or group concerned may be added after a spaced slash.
         2. Date (or part of the date) is in square brackets if it is not given by Russell on the holograph or typed letter.
   2. 3. Third line has the BRACERS record number, letter format, location of the original letter, and concise publication data (if any).
         1. These data are expanded into full sentences in the document note where other physical details and the format of the copy, in the case of a copy document, may be added.
      4. Fourth line has BRACERS links to the previous and next letters.
      5. Fifth line has editorial credits, beginning “Edited by”.
      6. A horizontal line between blank lines separates the Letter Heading from the transcription.
          
   3. NOTES AND TEXTUAL NOTES
      1. Annotations and textual notes are linked to the text by both catch-phrases (including any to the Letter Heading) and bidirectional footnoting.
      2. The document note, which is always note 1, concerns the text and the original document. See also 2.1.3.1.
      3. The recipient of each letter is annotated and linked to a general annotation (“GA”) for that recipient, if the GA exists.
         1. There need be no GA if only a couple of occasions to annotate a recipient arise.
         2. For recipient and other biographical GAs, provide an image of the person for the MPS site if practicable.
      4. Annotations and general annotations
         1. General (or standard) annotations may be appropriate for some of Russell’s allusions.
         2. Annotations are tailored to particular circumstances. Bio­graph­ical notes may be customized to suit a particular letter but should be more general in a GA.
            1. Within GAs, links may be made to Letters, BRACERS records, and other GAs.
         3. Decisions on how to annotate are left to individual editors (subject to approval by the senior editor(s) at the Russell Centre and their advisors).
         4. Many users access only one or two letters, so annotations are supplied, e.g., for a name, for each letter in which the name occurs — no matter how often the name occurs in previously published letters in the CLBR.
            1. The GA is linked in each note mentioning the subject of the GA, regardless of whether the GA is linked in other notes for the same letter.
         5. Annotation needs to be sufficient to make each letter intelligible as a stand-alone document.
      5. In the process of editing letters, document numbers from BRACERS may be useful, but they do not appear in the annotation when their editorial use in annotating the letters (e.g., those to Malleson) is past.
      6. The word “record” prefixed to the record number is replaced by “BRACERS”.
         1. References to other letters in the Brixton set, or block, are distinguished by dates to keep the reader within the Collected Letters View for Brixton transcriptions.
         2. The format is “(See) Letter x” with “x” encoded for the record number in the Collected Letters View.
      7. Elide date ranges as in “1918–19”, but not in the case of birth and death dates.
      8. Bibliographical references:
         1. Use “U. P.” for “University Press” in bibliographical references.
         2. Use common abbreviations for Russell’s book titles found at the back of Russell.
         3. Other bibliographical references should be complete, unless they are covered by the Resources page on the MPS site.
         4. Indicate if the book is in “Russell’s library”.
      9. Temporarily indicate unfinished notes with the easily located “??”.
      10. For “circa”, use a closed-up “c.” rather than a spaced “ca.”
      11. Names
          1. Refer to Bertrand Russell by “BR”.
          2. Refer by their first names to well-known correspondents or others who make frequent appearances in The Brixton Letters.
             1. E.g., Ottoline, Frank, Elizabeth, and Colette; but not Gladys and Stanley for Rinder and Unwin.
             2. Adjust for couples in context. E.g., the Morrells and the Mallesons.
      12. Use the simple past tense in describing historical actions in the letters.
      13. BR’s annotations are followed by the identifier “(BR’s note.)”
      14. Use this format in citing a paper in from the CPBR: “18 in Papers 8”.
      15. Maps are provided from Google Maps for locations cited by BR.
          1. Select the “small” version for embedding.
          2. Try to include familiar points of interest so the reader needn’t enlarge the map.
      16. Textual Notes
          1. Separate textual notes from topical annotation, although the latter may involve the former.
          2. Record BR’s insertions, corrections and deletions (include notes on obliterated deletions).
              
   4. SCANS OF ORIGINALS
      1. Obtain and mount high-quality, high-resolution scans of the documents transcribed as letters. Photographs and even photocopies may be used instead.
         1. Double-check that unusual features are remarked upon in the document note.
             
   5. CREDIT AND RESPONSIBILITY
      1. Editorial work on individual letters or blocks of letters is credited by name.
         1. In the case of The Brixton Letters block, all four editors have joint responsibility, without responsibility for selection, textual verification and annotation being individually credited.
      2. In the absence of joint editorial responsibility, the following contributions should be systematically recorded:
         1. Editor with primary responsibility.
         2. Transcription.
         3. Proofreading.
         4. Verification with original.
         5. Annotation.
             
   6. APPROVAL
      1. In light of the agreement to publish The Brixton Letters on the exact centenaries of individual letters (excepting the 1961 letter), the four editors (Blackwell, Bone, Griffin and Turcon, with Duncan as editorial assistant and compositor) received final draft editions of a week’s letters at least two weeks in advance of the centenary of the first letter in the batch. Revisions were due one week in advance of publication over a span of 20 weeks.
      2. A letter may be published as part of The Collected Letters of Bertrand Russell if one of the above four editors approves the editing of the letter.
         1. In the case of one of these editors having edited the letter, another of the four editors is required to approve the editing of the letter.
             
   7. MPS WEBSITE
      1. The url is https://russell-letters.mcmaster.ca.
         1. Every change made to texts at the MPS site must also be made to BRACERS and vice versa.
         2. Making MPS a secure site helps with internet indexing and is facilitated by a sitemap drawn to the attention of Google Search Console.
      2. Publication of The Brixton Letters has web pages unique to the MPS site:
         1. Background (i.e., an Introduction).
         2. Lists of abbreviations, acknowledgements, a chronology and related publications.
         3. A schedule of publication with first lines and tweets.
         4. Selected quotations from the letters.
         5. Contacts.
         6. These Editorial Rules.