IMPORTANT CONSUMER NOTE: The spavined, crippled THING
that is the EMR "edition" referenced above (trust
us, only for the sake of completeness), should be
AVOIDED AT ALL COSTS. In no way do its
flaws make it any kind of "collector's edition." If
you bought it -- or even got it for free -- you got
ripped off. The typography was nightmarishly unreadable
and under-inked. During phase after phase of proofreading,
the typesetter was so enamored of his PC that none of
the oft-repeated corrections managed to survive. The
cover was unvarnished; it arrived "pre-scuffed" from
the blacking factory where it had been abused by Third
World aborigines who had never experienced English firsthand,
and toothless Appalachian hillbillies whose adversarial
relationship with the printed word is painfully obvious
in the finished "product." Some disreputable outlets
are still distributing fugitive stock of this grotesquely
derailed, book-like excrescence, which was not released,
but escaped. By throwing your money away on this abortion,
you "support" no one's work.
Now, the splendid new Babbage edition -- which
looks almost exactly the same; please pay attention
-- corrects all the shortcomings and typos, (it took
two years), costs a buck more, and is the preferred
text and format. Just on the remote chance that you
might give a shit about the differences, here they are:
- The Babbage edition is 1/8" thicker at the spine,
1/8" taller, with a varnished cover featuring a red
"e" in the word
RED on the front, back, and spine.
- The cover graphic is attributed "lydia" in
bright red on the EMR version. On the Babbage, it
is attributed "LcM 03.02" in a much more subdued
shade.
- The EMR version has completely generic title and
contents pages.
- The Babbage edition includes a page of review
quotes upfront. And a proper title page.
And bullets to separate the contents, reflecting
just one aspect of the meticulous design work brought
to bear on the repair effort.
- The Babbage edition features frontispiece artwork
(a variation on the cover) before the Contents Page.
- The Babbage edition also boasts an amended afterword,
with the extra stuff dated December, 1998.
So: Buy the Babbage. For autograph seekers, the EMR
version is one of a small leper colony of three books
I absolutely won't sign under any circumstances.
Just remember: Babbage, Babbage, Babbage. You have been
warned. -- DJS. |
Babbage frontispiece
|
