"Representing every particular" is an introduction to John Martin and the five volumes of his writings and illustrations presented here. Each volume also has an introduction.
Each of the five volumes of John Martin's writings is available in full. To access them:
- Click on title of volume desired. Each volume has its own brief introduction.
- Each volume is broken into a number of PDF files to reduce download time. These can be accessed in two ways:
-- at the bottom of the introductory page for each volume are links to the various PDF sections, with brief descriptions of what is contained in each section
-- for fuller descriptions of what is contained in each section, use the navigation at left. The descriptions include some of the names and events from each section. Then click on the link to that section (under the image at right) to read the PDF file.
Reading PDF files
For best results, adjust your browser settings so that you are reading PDF files in Adobe Reader (rather than through the browser). To do this, look for "preferences" or "options" in your browser settings.
- If you access the files in Adobe Reader you will be able to see the "correct" page numbers of each section -- rather than the PDF-assigned numbers, which will begin with "1" in each section.
- The transcriptions often take more than one page to reflect the writing or clippings on one page of the original volume. Therefore, you will see the same original page repeated if the transcription progresses through multiple pages.
- These multiple pages are numbered, for example, 31, 31a, 31b, 31c and so forth until the transcription of the entire original page is completed.
Reading transcriptions
Maine Memory Network's transcriptions generally follow what is know as "typographical facsimile." We want to represent the text as originally written or printed as accurately as possible, following spelling, grammar, and page setup as closely as we can.
We cannot always format it in the same way. For instance, sometimes the document is written on printed letterhead that has larger or smaller type and logos or other designs on it. We cannot – and do not try to – duplicate that. We type the words from the letterhead, and try to get them approximately in the right location, but don't try to duplicate the sizes or spacing. We are more interested in the text itself being an accurate representation.
However, we do follow the line breaks in the original document and the column setups, when they exist.
If a word is crossed out in the original, we try to discern what the word, letters, or words were, then present those with a line through them to indicate they were crossed out.
Anything in square brackets is something we have added to help readers navigate the page. For instance, the transcription might include [top left column] to suggest where the transcription begins or [illegible] or [?] if the words or characters cannot be deciphered.
That said, John Martin's handwriting often appears to make many "M," "S," and "C" letters capitals. We have used our judgment in making some of these lower case. He, like others of his era, often made what seem like large commas at the end of thoughts in the writing. Many of these were intended as periods, and we have transcribed them as such. Likewise, what sometimes look like periods are commas.
Martin also sometimes crossed his "l" and left his "t" letters uncrossed. We have generally presented the letter he intended.
We have made every effort to accurately transcribe the Journal and Scrapbooks. We welcome suggestions for corrections or other comments.