Editing Notes
Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2026 9:20 pm
I do a lot of editing in making my versions of other's work
How does my editing differ?
First of all, the older translators imposed, at times, Solemn English, Well, Greeks never heard of it, Chinese never heard of it, so why is it in the translations? I remove it.
And, with one author, Taylor, in his Platonic translations, often confused the names of Greek gods with Roman gods, and those who actually used Taylors work to make their own supposed translations, never noticed that they too where divinely confused.
Secondly, in some early translator's, one finds outdated terms, which I update, one in particular, Niggardly, which there is no excuse for, it means parsimoniously, or stingy. No real excuse to use the word.
A lot of mystic translators do not actually translate a word, they simply put in a transliteration of a word, trying to elevate the standing of the work, This is done in Yoga to a very high degree. The author of the Sutras was a Sanskrit Grammar Teacher, so they mythologized even him.
In Legge's work, names of people he tried to work in his own method of transliteration to Chinese names, well, comma's etc., are not part of standard English. All that is removed from my edit. If the machine reader cannot pronounce his hacks, then I do not expect the ordinary reader too either
So, an editor should confine the out put to standardization in names, at least. I will even, from time to time, straighten out very odd constructions.
How does my editing differ?
First of all, the older translators imposed, at times, Solemn English, Well, Greeks never heard of it, Chinese never heard of it, so why is it in the translations? I remove it.
And, with one author, Taylor, in his Platonic translations, often confused the names of Greek gods with Roman gods, and those who actually used Taylors work to make their own supposed translations, never noticed that they too where divinely confused.
Secondly, in some early translator's, one finds outdated terms, which I update, one in particular, Niggardly, which there is no excuse for, it means parsimoniously, or stingy. No real excuse to use the word.
A lot of mystic translators do not actually translate a word, they simply put in a transliteration of a word, trying to elevate the standing of the work, This is done in Yoga to a very high degree. The author of the Sutras was a Sanskrit Grammar Teacher, so they mythologized even him.
In Legge's work, names of people he tried to work in his own method of transliteration to Chinese names, well, comma's etc., are not part of standard English. All that is removed from my edit. If the machine reader cannot pronounce his hacks, then I do not expect the ordinary reader too either
So, an editor should confine the out put to standardization in names, at least. I will even, from time to time, straighten out very odd constructions.