Transcriber's Notes
Introduction:
The Chronicles of America Series has two similar editions of each volume in the series. One version is the Abraham Lincoln edition of the series, a premium version which includes pictures. A textbook edition was also produced, which does not contain the pictures and captions associated with the pictures, but is otherwise the same book. This book was produced to match the textbook edition of the book.
We have retained the original punctuation and spelling in the book, but there are a few exceptions. Obvious errors were corrected--and all of these changes can be found in the Detailed Notes Section of these notes. The Detailed Notes Section also includes issues that have come up during the transcription process. One common issue is that words are sometimes split into two lines for spacing purposes. These words are hyphenated in the physical book, but there is a question sometimes as to whether the hyphen should be retained in transcription. The reasons behind some of these decisions are itemized.
Detailed Notes Section:
Chapter II
• [Page 25]: While "indico" should be spelled "indigo," the word is quoted from a budget and the spelling from the source document is retained.
• [Page 25]: While "herba" should be spelled "herbs," the word is quoted from a budget and the spelling from the source document is retained.
• [Page 27]: Hundred-weight is hyphenated and split between two lines for spacing. No other word of similar nature appears in the document. The hyphen was not used in transcription: "twenty-two shillings per hundredweight."
Chapter III
• [Page 67] and [Page 69]: Back-country was hyphenated and split between two lines for spacing. On Page 67, the same word was used with a hyphen in the middle of a line in the clause: "there came from the back-country..." Therefore, the hyphen was retained in the two places in question: "as in all the back-country counties," (Page 67) and "followers in the back-country." (Page 69)
• [Page 76]: There appears to be missing quotes around the introductory clause attributed to Jonathan Sewell in page 76: [We read the resolutions, said Jonathan Sewell,...]. In the [Preface], Becker cautioned that he would use an unorthodox method of telling the story to give "quality and texture of the state of mind and feeling of an individual or class." As transcribers, we will simply say that the quotation marks here match those in the printed book, and thus, we assume that Becker intended to leave the introductory clause of Sewell unquoted for subtle reasons implied in the Preface.
Chapter IV
• [Page 124]: coffee-house was hyphenated and split between two lines for spacing. On [Page 93], "coffee house" was split into two words for "Mr. Howard’s coffee house." The hyphen was retained in the clause "for the coffee-house retailers."
Chapter V
• [Page 159]: firm-set is hyphenated and split between two lines for spacing. The hyphen was retained in the clause "eyes flashing and mouth firm-set."
• [Page 163]: worn-out is hyphenated and split between two lines for spacing. The hyphen was retained in the clause "or creaking of worn-out institutions."
• [Page 182]: changed double quotes to single quotes when transcribing: [of the ‘present disturbed and disordered state’ of government], because this clause is embedded within a quotation.
• [Page 196]: Placed a semi-colon after them; the punctuation mark is unclear in my copy of the book. "Samuel Adams probably preferred not to be forced to print them; knowing their contents, ..."