how to persuade google books ?

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cantator
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how to persuade google books ?

Post by cantator »

Greetings,

As some of you know I'm always on the look-out for interesting and unusual Latin translations from other languages. I've been pleased to find so many relevant texts on Google Books, but there are still a few missing items, such as a Jesuit's translation of the Tao Te Ching (the first such, I think) and of course Andreas Divus's translation of the Odyssey (made famous by Ezra Pound's 1st Canto).

I've found Divus's books listed on antique booksellers' lists, priced far beyond what a simple scholar can afford (~US$9000). I also know that his Odyssey can be found at certain large libraries. So my question is: How do I convince Google Books that a book is worth the scan and preparation ?

What other relevant books do you textkats and textkittens think Google should scan ?
Similis sum folio de quo ludunt venti.

adrianus
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Post by adrianus »

Salve Cantator

Convince a library which has a book in question and a contract with Google Books (see http://books.google.com/googlebooks/partners.html ) to ensure it is included in books to scan, and then be patient for several years. And it would indeed be great to have the Divus (and the Tao)!

Bibliothecae cuidam persuade, quae habet librum quem vis atque cum Google Books conditionem, ut ille liber digitaliter simulaturus est. Tunc plures annos patienter exspectato. Et quàm mirum quidem sit, si opus Divi habeamus (et Tao Te Ching Latiné)!

cantator
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Post by cantator »

adrianus wrote:... plures annos patienter exspecta.
Care Adriane,

I don't wait very patiently, and I've already waited many years. Perhaps I should just go to a library that has the book. If I recall correctly it (the Divus Odyssey) can be found at the Regenstein library. Chicago isn't too far away from my location.

Difficile est patienter exspectare, multos annos iam exspectavi. Fortasse ad bibliothecam ire debeam in qua liber ille exstat. Nisi memoria me fallit liber in bibliotheca Regenstein invenire potest. Chicago non nimis remotus a domo mea.
Similis sum folio de quo ludunt venti.

adrianus
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Post by adrianus »

Care Cantantor

When the book's so near, best to get over there, and with a tripod and digital camera. It may, perhaps, appear on Google Books tomorrow, but don't hold your breath. Their contracts with libraries seem to anticipate six years' work, I think, and only for selected important collections.

Si liber tam propè inveniri potest, te illuc contendere oportet, photomachinam digitalem tripodemque gerentem. Cras forsan liber apud Google Books appareat, sed noli animam comprimere. Conditiones cum bibliothecis sex annorum spatium comprehendunt, ut mihi videtur, et solùm collectionibus quae designatae sunt significantissimae.

adrianus
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Post by adrianus »

cantator wrote:I don't wait very patiently, and I've already waited many years.
Clearly, you do badly require the way of Lao Tzu, whether in Latin, Greek, English or Chinese. :D
Clarè, magnum opus tibi est sententiâ Lao Tzu scriptoris,— vel latinè vel graecè vel anglicè vel sinicé. :D

adrianus
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Post by adrianus »

That makes me think of a story about the Irish saints Columbanus and Mochua, both living in isolation and both rather competitive, it seems, religiously. Mochua lived in a hut with a cock, a mouse and a flea. The cock crowed the hours of matins, the mouse licked his ear to wake him up, and the flea keep his place in his psalter. When his companions died, he wrote to Columbanus for comfort. "Mourn not, dear Mochua", replied Columbanus "for great misery ever waits upon great wealth!" One up for Columbanus, I think.

Quod mihi facit fabulam memorare de sanctis hibernicis Columbano Mochuaque, uter qui insulatus vivebat et qui rivales erant, ut mihi videtur, gratiae Dei. Vivebat in stabulo Mochua cum gallo mureque atque pulice. Gallus horas precum antelucanarum cantabat, mus aurem ei lingebat ut eum surgit, et pulex locum in psalterio tenebat. Omnibus sociis mortuis, Mochua Columbano scripsit ut adlevetur. Respondit Columbanus, "Noli lugere, mi Mochua. Quàm magna est miseria quae eum invisit qui multas copias habet!" Ità Columbanus unum plus quàm Mochua signat, nonné.

cantator
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Post by cantator »

adrianus wrote: ... magna est miseria quae eum invisit qui multas copias habet...
Aut quam dicit philosophus sinicensis antiquitus Lao Tzu, "Si vereor rerum amissionem, potior res non habere."
Similis sum folio de quo ludunt venti.

adrianus
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Post by adrianus »

Nice, Cantator! I confess I have never read the Tao Te Ching from start to finish. I must change that. You do know it better than me.
Bellum, Cantator! Fateor te meliùs quàm me Tao librum scire, qui eum numquàm ab initio ad finem legi. Quam rem corrigere debeo.

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