User talk:Linguist/Archive9

Marie de France

Before I added more, there was only one of Marie de France's lais in the database, "Il Lai du Bisclavret," which was there because translations of it were in modern anthologies. I have now found two more in anthologies, "Lanval" and "Chievrefueil," and so I have added records for the 13th-century texts of all twelve on the basis of Warnke's 1885 edition. Are these lais something you know anything about, so that I could ask you some questions? Most notably, "Bisclavret" was previously in the DB as a short story, with the note "Versified text, as nearly all French medieval literature." I wondered if it was you who wrote that note. For the moment, I have changed its type to POEM. --Vasha (cazadora de tildes) 13:06, 6 January 2019 (EST)

Yes, I wrote that note, to explain why I had tagged Bisclavret as a short story, not a poem. The problem is that some editors systematically call "poem" anything versified, whereas poetry and versification are two different things (there are poems in prose, and versified didactic texts). Note this db calls "novels" long epic poems in verse, and "short fiction" a versified play. Note also that most of Charles Perrault's tales are in prose, a few in verse, but they are all tagged as "short fiction" (to complicate matters, some translations of versified tales are in prose, not in verse).

To answer the other question, yes, I am acquainted with the lais of Marie de France, and medieval French literature in general. Linguist 05:13, 7 January 2019 (EST).

The point of view that stories in verse should have the type SHORTFICTION is compelling, and I agree with it in principle, but it does present considerable practical difficulties which may prevent it being adopted by most editors. One problem is that it requires distinguishing between narrative and lyric verse (personally, I'm uneasy about including any verse in this db that doesn't have a strong narrative element, but there's plenty of it in anthologies and magazines, so needs must). Secondly, we'd have to decide exactly which narrative verse should be SHORTFICTION. As you say, it's pretty clear that medieval and early modern writings just use verse as the medium for stories; but that isn't true nowadays, so are we going to draw a chronological dividing line? Try to judge according to "genre"? For example, are 17th-century ballads SHORTFICTION? Before I start changing records from POEM to SHORTFICTION I would like to get a better understanding of the matter.

With regards to Marie de France, I decided, on second thought, to omit from the database the five of her lais that have the fewest magical elements, as being unlikely to show up in modern speculative-fiction anthologies. After all she is not a "genre" writer in the sense of writing fantasy fiction--all of her stories belong to the same genre but not that one.

Question: why did you use, as the standardized title for the story you entered, "Le Lai du Bisclavret"? Warnke just titled it "Bisclavret" and that seems to be the commonest practice.

Finally, I have posted a [query at Rules & Standards, about the dates of works from manuscripts, that you might have an opinion about. --Vasha (cazadora de tildes) 16:38, 7 January 2019 (EST)

Actually, I should have not used the article in the title — can't figure why I added it. Like most medieval texts, this one is known under different variants and variant titles : Lai du Bisclaveret (see here for instance) or Bisclavret (see here), etc. I just chose one of them, but indeed, since there aren't any pubs linked to this particular title yet, it might as well be suppressed.

I agree that the distinction between SHORTFICTION and (lyrical) POEM can be somewhat subjective at times, but in my opinion, if doubt arises, then this distinction is not that important, and should probably benefit to POEM (but another choice would not be dramatic). Take Poe's Raven, for instance : despite its initial structure in rhymed stanzas heavy with alliterations, Baudelaire's famed translation consists of a succession of prose paragraphs, which might easily pass for a short story with a poetical twist.

As for the technical aspect of the problem, I wonder if it would be possible — and practical or useful — to dispose of a PROSE / VERSE option, which could be used independently of the others (NOVEL / SHORT FICTION / POEM / ESSAY…) : this would easily account for verse vs prose poems, verse vs prose stories, etc. The PROSE option would of course be the one to be automatically used by default. Furthermore, the translation in prose of a versified story, which is a rather common practice, should allow a prose text to be a variant of a verse one, without being red-flagged (or, rather, yellow-flagged) by the system. This, as far as I am concerned, would be ideal, but of course this is just my way of seing things. Linguist 05:16, 8 January 2019 (EST).

Distinguishing poetry from other literary forms is DIFFICULT. I just spent an hour mentally cataloguing all the intermediate and marginal cases, and I will not bore you with repeating this, but the conclusion I came to is that no set of guidelines could possibly capture the distinction. Where guidelines are of little use, it's better not to have guidelines, so I think the current state of anarchy in the database will have to continue, with each editor using their own instincts to recognize which is which. This will be easy for the majority of modern works; and having uncertain cases misclassified is not the worst thing that could happen to the database—a less serious problem than incorrect bibliographical data. (Nonetheless, I really appreciate it when editors of anthologies and magazines tell me which of their contents they consider to be poems!)

Does this anarchy extend to your argument that some verse narratives should be classified as SHORTFICTION? Should editors who feel that a lai, a romance, or a ballad is SHORTFICTION simply enter it as such? I hesitate to say so, since the classification would come as a surprise to the great majority of people consulting the database, who would be unfamiliar with anything but the modern norm that if it's verse, it's poetry. If we were to adopt this counterintuitive practice, explanations would be needed, and the best thing would be to have a standard explanation that could be linked from every applicable record. Would you be willing to write a wiki page explaining the reason for the classification? --Vasha (cazadora de tildes) 14:52, 8 January 2019 (EST)

OK, I'll try and do that — although it might take a bit of time. As can be seen from my scanty editing these days, I have little free time at the moment. But I think it could be done this week or next. Linguist 08:57, 9 January 2019 (EST).

That's great, thanks! --Vasha (cazadora de tildes) 21:20, 9 January 2019 (EST)

Noosfere

Hi Dominique,

Do you know if the NooSFere's numbers (numlivre) are stable? We already have them recorded anyway so I was thinking that we may as well pull them in external identifiers. What do you think? Annie 17:02, 14 January 2019 (EST)

I do think they are quite stable. At least, I've never had any problem with them so far. It might be indeed a good idea to add them to the list. Linguist 08:07, 15 January 2019 (EST).

I am yet to find an invalid one and some of our records are as old as 2011 so I think we should be fine. Annie 11:42, 15 January 2019 (EST)

Les grottes de Gom

Hi, You verified this pub. Note says: "original Anticipation series number appearing as «425» in lower part of spine." But the original number was 465. Is that an error? --Zapp 07:38, 15 January 2019 (EST)

The funny thing is that the number at the bottom of the spine is actually 485, not 425 (I must have misread it the first time), but it is still a misprint on the part of Fleuve Noir. The original number, 465, is correctly indicated on copyright page. I'll update the record and make things clearer. Thanks for the notification ! Linguist 08:18, 15 January 2019 (EST).

Пять кругов ужаса

Hello,

Can you look at this one that has both "Apparently no record of this book in WorldCat" and an OCLC verification (as opposed to a N/A for example). Thanks! Annie 13:18, 16 January 2019 (EST)

Corrected (must have clicked the wrong button or whatever it is called…). Thanks, Linguist 04:38, 17 January 2019 (EST).

Les premiers feux: Penser le futur en Russie d'Alexandre Ier à Staline

A quick note re: your verified Les premiers feux: Penser le futur en Russie d'Alexandre Ier à Staline. It lists "L'Antéchrist" as a translation of Vladimir Soloviev's "Краткой повести об антихристе".

As near as I can tell, the Russian title is "Краткая повесть об Антихристе". It originally appeared as part 4 of a longer work, which is presumably why the title may have been inflected in some secondary sources. Ahasuerus 16:11, 16 January 2019 (EST)

Yes, that's very probable. Yet the original title was thus indicated in the bibliography. I have updated the Russian title. Thanks for the notification. Linguist 04:48, 17 January 2019 (EST).

OCLC verifications

Hello, I'm wondering about some entries in the Cleanup Report Publications with an OCLC Verification, an ISBN and no OCLC External ID. That publications have a note "No record in OCLC" but a positive secondary verification. For example: Piège sur Zarkass. I thought in those cases the button should be made for "Marked N/A"? --Zapp 08:12, 27 January 2019 (EST)

I must have found the OCLC record afterwards, and forgotten to update ours. Notes corrected and OCLC number added, thanks. Linguist 08:14, 1 February 2019 (EST).

Trying to understand some French binding terms

A 19th century ad (the J. Verne book at bottom of right column) lists the prices for a book as "Volumes gr. in-8° jésus, 10 fr.; cart., 12 fr.;rel., 14 fr.". Other ads indicate cart. is cartonnés and rel. is relié. I assume cartonnés is a basic board cover and relié is also covered (likely nice leather covers people want to collect) but what is jésus?. Would it be a kind of loosley bound copy with a paper cover like the in-18 version or this (same book as the ad is from)? ../Doug H 13:36, 4 February 2019 (EST)

Hello Doug, and sorry about the delay, I haven't been around much lately. Jésus does not refer to binding, but format. In French papermaking, it used to be the name of different paper formats, with a distinctive IHS (Christogram) watermark : basic jésus was 56 × 72 cm, with two main variants : petit jésus (55 × 70 cm) and grand jésus (56 × 76 cm). Thus, gr[and] in-8° jésus means it is a large octavo obtained from such 56 × 76 cm sheets to start with (one sheet corresponding to 16 pages of printed text folded three times to get eight leaves). It is the absence of other specifications for the 10 fr. edition that implies here that it is indeed paper-bound. In other words, a 19 x 28 cm soft-bound volume, i.e. tp. Hope that helps, Linguist 08:24, 8 February 2019 (EST).

Recent Black Coat Press titles

The folks at Black Coat Press have announced two books that I am struggling with. The first one is The Incredible Adventure and Other Interstellar Excursions, which collects 3 novellas by 3 French authors. The second one is The Man Who Could Read Minds, a selection of stories by Paul Gsell. Black Coat Press is usually good at providing information about the original French titles on their Web site, but in this case their pages are of limited use -- the only original fiction title that they list is L'Homme qui lit dans les âmes.

When you have a free moment, do you think you could take a look? TIA! Ahasuerus 17:39, 22 March 2019 (EDT)

Sorry, I haven't been around much recently, and only saw your notice to-day. I'll try and do what I can :o) ! Linguist 09:16, 29 March 2019 (EDT).

Thanks! Ahasuerus 09:59, 29 March 2019 (EDT)

Can't find any trace of Adventures in Prehistoric Times… It might have been published in Nouvelles scientifiques (1896), but I didn't find any ToC anywhere. Apart from that, I think I got them all ! Linguist 10:43, 29 March 2019 (EDT).

Beautiful! Thanks again! Ahasuerus 11:07, 29 March 2019 (EDT)

Sciences et Voyages bogus oclc verifications

Hi, can you please set the oclc verification for all Sciences et Voyages magazines that feature on this maintenance report Publications with an OCLC Verification, no ISBN and no OCLC External ID to n/a (not available)? Thanks in advance.--Dirk P Broer 06:30, 4 April 2019 (EDT)

Right, I'll go and have a look at them. Thanks, Linguist 08:41, 5 April 2019 (EDT).

Done. Linguist 12:12, 5 April 2019 (EDT).

Thanks!--Dirk P Broer 07:40, 6 April 2019 (EDT)

The World of Null-A

Hi, you are PV2 for this publication. I'm trying to establish whether my copy of this is the same as yours. Could you please check your copy against the following as it appears on my copyright page:

"First published in Great Britain in 1970 by Dobson Books Ltd."

"© 1948 by Street & Smith Publications Inc."

"Introduction © A. E. Van Vogt 1970."

"First Sphere Books Edition 1971"

(The page number switching detail is exactly as you have it)

Back cover pricing: United Kingdom (6/-) 30p, Australia 1.00c, New Zealand 1.00c, South Africa 75c, East Africa 7/25.

Front cover is exactly as pictured. "87653" vertically on back cover

At first it seems the same but nowhere in my book is there any reference to "Sphere Science Fiction Classics" (which I infer is on your copyright page). Thanks, Kevan BanjoKev 14:55, 18 April 2019 (EDT)BanjoKev

Hello BanjoKev. Every detail is identical, so it looks like the same copy. However, the reference to "Sphere Science Fiction Classics" comes from the cover itself. If yours doesn't mention it, then we are dealing with two different printings. Cheers, Linguist 08:41, 19 April 2019 (EDT).

Thanks for taking the time to check and, yes, the copies are identical. Is it alright if I edit the record to clarify/complete it? Thanks BanjoKev 12:43, 20 April 2019 (EDT)

No problem, go ahead. Thanks, Linguist 03:54, 21 April 2019 (EDT).

Gabriel de Lautrec's The Sacred Fire

Black Coat Press is about to release The Sacred Fire, which collects Brian Stableford's translation of Gabriel de Lautrec's "Le feu sacré" and a couple dozen "short prose poems". Their Web page states that "The Sacred Fire (1904) ... never achieved publication in volume form until now." There are scattered online references to "Le feu sacré", but nothing definitive. Would you happen to know more about this work? TIA! Ahasuerus 17:49, 4 June 2019 (EDT)

P.S. Also, would you happen to know if any of the stories included in S. Henry Berthoud's forthcoming William's Angel are SF? Ahasuerus 17:58, 4 June 2019 (EDT)

I'll look into that in a moment (before D-Day ?) ;o) Linguist 04:01, 5 June 2019 (EDT).

Right. So, the publication of the novel was announced in 1902 in Le Monde Littéraire Illustré. Here's an extract of an uncredited, rather longish and wordy note about Gabriel de Lautrec and his work in LMLI #40, October 5, 1902, p. 631-632 (the note starts on p. 630) :

J'ai la bonne fortune de pouvoir annoncer le premier l'apparition prochaine d'un roman : Le Feu sacré, dont le manuscrit vient d'être remis à l'éditeur.

Dans ce roman l'auteur nous présente un personnage très moderne, plein de bizarrerie et d'inquiétude, désireux de vivre à pleines facultés mais hésitant devant l'effort nécessaire au bonheur. Des influences extérieures poussent sa personnalité vers sa complète manifestation à travers le subissement de différents milieux. Sur des conseils amis, il fait usage des poisons amplificateurs de toutes les sensations et finit par soupçonner deux choses essentielles : la volonté et l'amour. C'est une analyse d'une profondeur et d'une originalité rares, le développement d'un caractère, une œuvre de belle unité. Les aperçus les plus étranges s'y enchâssent aisément et tel chapitre sur le haschich est certainement ce qu'on a écrit de plus complet et de plus éclairé concernant cette drogue qui fut chère à Thomas de Quincey et les images qu'elle suggère parfois. Ailleurs, partant du feu matériel pour arriver au feu spirituel qui est l'amour, l'auteur nous introduit dans le sanctuaire des adorateurs du Feu, où il semble bien, par la vivacité des peintures, qu'il ait pénétré. Il y a aussi dans ce livre une théorie de la magie qui est exposée en termes clairs et révélateurs de pensées tout à fait neuves ; enfin pour tout dire, cette œuvre sera à des points de vue divers, l'affirmation d'un talent hors pair.

Si mes louanges ne sont point retentissantes, elles sont sincères. Au surplus notre poète n'est point homme à s'en enorgueillir.

Avec Du Bellay, il aime à répéter :

Bien ne me plaît fort ce qui peut déplaire Au jugement du rude populaire.

Il ne compte point parmi ces éphèbes de la nouvelle Athènes qui vont par les carrefours, quêtant un peu d'admiration facile et il a raison de ne point se confiner dans le culte absolu de la forme, à la manière de nos sous-Parnassiens. C'est en faisant un choix laborieux des idées qu'il s'est créé une note personnelle et c'est en chantant le mal de ses chimères qu'il nous fournit, des impressions délicieuses. Tel quel, loyal dans l'aveu de ses joies et de ses tristesses, il traverse la vie comme un merveilleux sertisseur de vocables diamantins, de rimes jumelles et de sentiments délicats. C'est pourquoi beaucoup de femmes lisent ses œuvres et les relisent en lui réservant dans leur cœur une place toute chaude d'admiration.

This novel, dealing with magic, occultism and the use of drugs, seems to have been initially published in serial form as from 1903 in a philosophical and literary periodical called L'Initiation. Revue philosophique des Hautes Études. From what I can see, it also contains articles dealing with spiritualism, esoterism, symbolism, clairvoyance, chiromancy and the like. I got hold of the pdf of the July 1903 issue here [www.iapsop.com/archive/materials/l_initiation/initiation_1903_v60_n11_jul.pdf], where the first instalment appears (p. 51-67). It is of course "to be continued". I can't find any trace of a publication in book form, though.

As for Samuel-Henri Berthoud, L'ange des Williams (the story) was included around 1890 (no date on book) in a collection entitled Les féeries de la science, considered to be scientific vulgarization, although some of the illustrations I could catch a glimpse of suggested fantasy. All the other stories of the Black Coat collection come from Berthoud's Chroniques et traditions surnaturelles de la Flandre, 3 vol., 1831-1834, where the supernatural element is usually present (but the link with the New Zealand tiki on the cover of the BCP book seems rather tenuous…). That's about all I could find so far. Hope that helps ! Linguist 06:09, 5 June 2019 (EDT).

Excellent! I have updated the records and created VTs for translations. Thanks a lot! Ahasuerus 19:38, 5 June 2019 (EDT)

Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder

Hi. This note relies entirely on ISFDB Title and Publication records. I have not seen any edition except the 6-story Project Gutenberg Ebook #10832.

We have four publication records for two French-language collections Carnacki et les fantômes T1605676 (1977) and Carnacki le chasseur de fantômes T1895947 (2008). You are one primary verifier of the earliest (1977, apparent 1st ed.) and may be our only source for the three other records. So you are the probable source for our Note in most of the six Title and Publication records that 'The collection/This edition does not include "The Find".'

In fact these Titles/Publications all contain 7 of 9 stories, lacking "The Thing Invisible" (1912) T78144 as well as "The Find", 1947, T78137.

Probably it is your Note that publication P528611 contains Truchaud translations of the other two Carnacki stories, "The Thing Invisible" ("La chose invisible") and "The Find" ("Bibliophilie"). --Pwendt|talk 16:15, 17 June 2019 (EDT)

P.S. The 2008 illustrations by Florence Briscoe must be all or some of those from the 1910 serial publication, which are reproduced in this online edition (stories #1-5 only). --Pwendt|talk 19:21, 17 June 2019 (EDT)

Hello, and thanks for the notification. Yes, I am responsible for most of these notes. I'll update the records where necessary. Thanks again, Linguist 04:52, 18 June 2019 (EDT).

La discothèque du vampire

Hi, I have just stumbled across La discothèque du vampire and was surprised to see it marked as a chapterbook, but then I don't own the German original. I would have guessed that it still classifies as a novel as the German first edition was a 157-160 pages paperback. The true author is not Jason Dark, this is a pseudonym, the author's canonical name is Helmut Rellergerd. Cheers, John. JLochhas 12:43, 18 July 2019 (EDT)

Thanks John. I had asked Christian about it, as I was unsure who the real author was (there were five of them to choose from), but he must be on holiday or something. As for the length, the print is rather large, and the text does not seem to go beyond 20,000 words. It might be a condensed edition, but I can't know for sure. Thanks for your notice, I'll update the record accordingly. Linguist 15:10, 18 July 2019 (EDT).

Christian had been in touch with me about the stories' length, too. I still need to get hold of the original paperbacks to assess their size. Cheers, John JLochhas 13:53, 22 July 2019 (EDT)

Vingt mille lieues sous les mers

Hello,

Does this one really have the ISBN-10 printed? If so, a note may be in order - by 2009, one would expect an ISBN-13 :) Annie 16:43, 30 July 2019 (EDT)

Yes, I remember the system screaming something at me about it in yellow, and I just thought : "OK, let it scream, I know what I'm doing…". Just did not think about the note. I'll fix that, thanks for the notification ! Linguist 04:49, 31 July 2019 (EDT).

Thanks. It popped up on a report so decided to ask you before I ignore it there. Annie 13:29, 31 July 2019 (EDT)

French currency symbols

Hello, Dominique! There was a question on that item at the Community Portal, and I suggested that you are likely wiser on that matter than others, so you may be able to help. Christian Stonecreek 13:35, 23 August 2019 (EDT)

Done ! Thanks for the notification, Linguist 05:00, 24 August 2019 (EDT).

La trilogie Ahriman

When you have a chance, can you take a quick look at this book? I think that I got the punctuation and capitalization right but something is bugging me and I cannot put my finger on it and I would prefer to get a French eye on it. Thanks! Annie 02:41, 11 September 2019 (EDT)

Can't find anything wrong with it, except perhaps the fact that the nooSFere link points to the printed edition, not the ebook. If something bugs you, bug Jack Barron ! :oD Linguist 05:25, 11 September 2019 (EDT).

Oops - and that after spending so much time telling people not to do that - I planned to add it as a templated value and guess I got distracted. Fixed - I will blame it on the hour. The punctuation rules always trip me (this space before a punctuation space is just weird) :) Thanks! Annie 12:31, 11 September 2019 (EDT)

Cloning back in time and contents

Hi Dominique,

A quick reminder to keep an eye on the dates of the stories when cloning back in time (such as here). If you approve the clone before the stories are re-dated, we need to do them one by one (or remove contents, re-date, reimport...) as opposed to being able to adjust from a single editPub before the clone is approved. Thanks! Annie 01:21, 30 September 2019 (EDT)

Thanks, Annie. I had intended to do that, but got waylaid by something else, I suppose. I'll fix that. Linguist 04:00, 30 September 2019 (EDT).

Thanks! Easiest way I had found is to remove the titles from one of them, do the 1 EditPub (plus the editTitle for the container) and reimport... :) Otherwise it is a lot of edits... PS: I think that the novel here Annie 04:07, 30 September 2019 (EDT)

Whatever that was… ;o) I suppose you meant this one ? Thanks, anyway ! Linguist 04:12, 30 September 2019 (EDT).

Ooops. That would be me deciding in the middle of a note to actually fix it instead of telling you it needs fixing... and then forgetting I already wrote the note and posting the whole thing. I think I just need to go to bed. Sorry about that. :)Annie 04:18, 30 September 2019 (EDT)

Gulliver's Travels and Bancroft Classics - we're number 1

A later book in the Bancroft Classics series put Gulliver's Travels as first in the series. Any objection if I update the pub to reflect this position? ../Doug H 08:19, 7 October 2019 (EDT)

No problem, go ahead ! Linguist 10:41, 7 October 2019 (EDT).

Before the Golden Age 1 : Asimov

Hi, you are PV2 here. I propose changes to the Notes and Contents as per my copy - see here.

I'd be grateful if you could check these. Meanwhile, I've asked Moderator to hold, pending your approval. Many thanks, Kev. BanjoKev 20:57, 24 October 2019 (EDT)

I've just realised I've entered the wrong formatting for the two ISFDB record links :( BanjoKev 21:16, 24 October 2019 (EDT)

If the variants were published for the first time under 'Capt. S. P. Meek', instead of the canonical 'S. P. Meek' in this publication they ought to have the publication's date. PS: The 1931 stories were published as by 'Capt. S. P. Meek, USA'. If the Introduction is on a unnumbered page and comes before 'Part One', and that Part One is on page 1, then there have to be another solution for the right sequence... --Dirk P Broer 04:34, 25 October 2019 (EDT)

I agree with Dirk's remark : this seems to be the first appearance of the "Capt. S. P. Meek" credit, so the date should stay. As far as re-ordering the two introductions is concerned, I think Kev's solution should work, as "1" and "2" after the pipe don't appear on the record, and don't affect the order of the other pages (as far as I know). Cheers, Linguist 04:58, 25 October 2019 (EDT).

Thank you both for your comments which have helped my understanding of the relationship, and consequences, between the canonical and [as by ....] names. And yes, this does seem to be the first (and so far only) appearance of the Capt. S. P. Meek" credit. Thank you Dirk for reverting my two wrong 1931 edits. Also, the 'Contents' page ordering now appears correctly.

I will now repair the two records links and add the copyright details of the individual stories which appear on the page facing the copyright page, for the sake of completeness, which I should have done in my first submission. Again, many thanks, Kev.BanjoKev 16:27, 25 October 2019 (EDT)

Hebrew and Portuguese help

Will you see if you can help here? Thanks! ···日本穣 · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe 17:40, 1 November 2019 (EDT)

Will do (in a moment). Linguist 05:36, 2 November 2019 (EDT).

pb and European books

Hi,

Not sure if you saw this but an opinion will be very much appreciated. Even if it is "no, do not change anything". Thanks! :) Annie 12:45, 12 November 2019 (EST)

Added my 2 cents' worth. Linguist 05:44, 13 November 2019 (EST).

4 stuck submissions

Hello again,

You have 4 stuck submissions in the queue :) Annie 20:18, 15 November 2019 (EST)

Goodness gracious me !! ;o) Linguist 04:42, 16 November 2019 (EST).

Fantascienza / NILF

We support this as an external ID (under the official name NILF). I will move them in this one and the other 2 but heads up if you are working on Italian now :) Annie 11:37, 20 November 2019 (EST)

Thanks a lot ! Actually, I am going through all the Rene Barjavel translations I can lay my virtual hand on, and have now moved to Spanish. But I'll remember that in the future. Thanks again, Linguist 11:44, 20 November 2019 (EST).

We have LTF (La Tercera Fundacion) for Spanish as an ID (as a reminder) :) Annie

Thanks ! Actually, I knew that, and am even using it ! ;o) Linguist 11:58, 20 November 2019 (EST).

Great. I am just in reminder mode. :) Annie 12:08, 20 November 2019 (EST)

Presses Pocket

I've just submitted an entry for a translation of an Asimov book under the publisher series Presses Pocket. I noticed that the publisher is also listed as Presses Pocket for all the entries. My copy has "Éditions L'Étincelle" below the title on the title page. Am I correct in listing them as the publisher or should it be Presses Pocket? ../Doug H 11:04, 26 November 2019 (EST)

Certain French pb publishers indicate the original publisher's name on their title page. This applies particularly to Le Livre de Poche and Presses Pocket, which publish pb versions of books originally issued as tps or hcs by a very wide range of publishers. In these two cases, for simplicity's sake as there are so many different original publishers, we don't mention them, and consider the pubs as published by Le Livre de Poche or Presses Pocket. Therefore, the publisher in our case should be "Presses Pocket", but the pub series "Presses Pocket - Mondes mystérieux" (which doesn't exist yet in the db, as it is mainly concerned with nonfiction). Moreover, "Extra Terrestres" sould not be capitalized in this French title. I'll do the necessary updates.

Note also that when a pub series is shared by a limited number of publishers, like Folio for instance, the names of the original publishers have been maintained. This is not the least of ISFDB's inconsequences… Linguist 05:04, 27 November 2019 (EST).

A couple of duplicate submissions

A quick FYI: I have hard-rejected 2 of your "stuck" MakeVariant submissions -- http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/view_submission.cgi?4479943 and http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/view_submission.cgi?4474705 -- since they were apparently server-generated duplicates of what's already been approved. You seem to come across more than your fair share of them. Unfortunately, I have no way of determining what's causing them :-\ Ahasuerus 18:25, 28 November 2019 (EST)

Thanks for taking care of this ! Linguist 06:04, 29 November 2019 (EST).

French Perry Rhodan series

Annie had the idea to ask You about this. --Zapp 17:33, 29 November 2019 (EST)

Panther Granada

Hi, with regard to the conversation here [1], you are PV on the following publications 166381 448783 123271 302609.

Could you please check and let me know whether you agree to a publisher change to "Panther / Granada". Thanks, Kev. BanjoKev 23:44, 4 December 2019 (EST)

Also, in 302609, there is an Asimov Foreword for all but one of the stories. Would you agree that I could add them to the contents? Thanks, Kev. BanjoKev 00:24, 5 December 2019 (EST)

Hello Kev. Concerning the Panther / Granada business, I seem to remember some debate about the matter, involving Mhhutchins and others, some of whom are not active any more. The point was that the forms with and without a slash referred to different ways the Publisher(s) were actually credited in the books. I can't recall all the intricacies of the discussion, nor who said what or when it took place. Perhaps Ahasuerus would know. I'm not utterly opposed to the merging, but you'd better check with some others before.

As for the Asimov preambles, no problem with me if they already are in the db. Otherwise, I think just a note indicating their presence would be sufficient. Cheers, Linguist 12:19, 5 December 2019 (EST).

Yeah but we normalize the field and the "/" is ISFDB convention regardless of what the book uses as an exact credit really. Was it one of the "as per the book" vs "as per policy" discussions again? I will see if I can find something in the archives... Annie 14:20, 5 December 2019 (EST)

Thanks Dominique. There are, in all, 7 active PVs involved in this and I've posted to all their pages: Dirk P Broer, PeteYoung, mavmaramis, yourself, AliHarlow, Don Erikson and Unapersson and pointing everyone to the community page. The first three have agreed to the change and I'm waiting to hear back from the last three. Hopefully Annie will be able to find something in the archives.

Re the Asimov introductions, they aren't in the db but I found a neat last line in the Notes here "All stories have a short introduction..." which will do the job nicely. Kev. BanjoKev 15:30, 5 December 2019 (EST)

Florence L. Marchal

Fixer served a few of her books and I did what I could - but if you have a chance, you may want to check the author page and the books there and see if all looks fine. Thanks! Annie 00:46, 31 December 2019 (EST)

Right, I'll have a look at that shortly. Linguist 04:34, 31 December 2019 (EST).

Everything seems fine ! Just expanded the author page a bit. Linguist 05:05, 31 December 2019 (EST).

Thanks for checking it and filling in some more details there. :) Annie 16:42, 31 December 2019 (EST)