Posted on 11/30/2009 12:38:26 PM PST by HokieMom
CHARLOTTESVILLE -- More than 200 years after they were written, about 5,000 previously unpublished documents of the founders of the United States -- including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and James Madison -- are now available to the public at no cost.
The Documents Compass group of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities at the University of Virginia has spent much of the past year proofreading and transcribing thousands of pages of letters and other papers.
The documents are available online for free at the University of Virginia Press' digital imprint called Rotunda.
"It's an exciting project," said Penelope Kaiserlian, director of the University of Virginia Press. "It's using 21st-century technology to approach 18th-century materials."
The online project is a federal pilot study that aims to expand public access to the papers of America's founders. It is funded by a $250,000 grant ... National Archives.
For decades, the papers of Jefferson, Adams, George Washington and others have been available only in expensive, hard-copy tomes that are not widely circulated. A complete set of the 26 volumes of Alexander Hamilton's papers, for example, costs about $2,600.
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If the pilot project is successful and future funding can be secured, Kaiserlian said, more previously unpublished documents may be made available online.
The U.Va. Press is the longtime publisher of the Papers of George Washington, which has 55 volumes to date, and the Papers of James Madison, which has 32 volumes so far.
Rotunda, U.Va. Press' digital imprint, has published digital versions of the published volumes of the papers of Washington, Adams and Jefferson. Rotunda's staff is working on a digital version of the papers of Madison.
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Several letters exchanged by Jefferson and Adams show the difficulties they faced when establishing trade between the newly formed United States and Europe.
(Excerpt) Read more at 2.timesdispatch.com ...
VERY IMPORTANT!! and Thank you for Posting!!
Yes, it has a searchable database.
“A complete set of the 26 volumes of Alexander Hamilton’s papers, for example, costs about $2,600.”
That’s a lot of handwriting.
*ping*
“The Documents Compass group of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities at the University of Virginia has spent much of the past year proofreading and transcribing thousands of pages.......”
From what I’ve heard out of UVA lately, they fall all over themselves to be PC. I wonder how accurately the documents were “transcribed” or how severely this self-appointed group revised them to make them “acceptable” for the ignorant and unwashed (us) to see? Why weren’t we allowed to see the undoctored ORIGINALS?!!!
the newspaper article didn’t link to it. What’s with newspapers so afraid to link to somewhere other than their site.
Thanks for correcting the link. I found the wrong collection.
Ping
It still took me to the correct area...this is wonderful news. I’ll be reading for weeks
Why weren’t we allowed to see the undoctored ORIGINALS?!!!
&&&
Yes, that is very strange. Why not just put up the copy? Even I have that capability on my home system.
Thank you for posting the link.
Thanks!
Bump for later reference.
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Thanks hennie pennie. |
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