Wittgenstein's Nachlass, The Bergen Electronic Edition

Claus Huitfeldt
Wittgenstein Archives
University of Bergen
Allegaten 27
Bergen, N-5007
Norway
Claus.Huitfeldt@hit.uib.no

http://www.hit.uib.no/claus/ach99/poster.htm

The Bergen Electronic Edition is the first edition of Ludwig Wittgenstein's 20,000 page Nachlass with any claim to completeness. The first CD-ROM volume was published in 1998. The remaining three are due to appear in 1999 and 2000.

The edition presents transcriptions of Wittgenstein's writings in two formats: an uncluttered, Normalized reading-text and a detailed, Diplomatic study-text. It also includes a Facsimile containing digitized images for every page of text.

The publication uses FolioViews for presentation and retrieval of the transcription text. InfoVIEW has been used to display the facsimiles.

In the preparation of the edition, transcriptions are encoded using MECS (Multi-Element Code System). MECS software provides transcription support and ensures that transcriptions can be formatted for output in a variety of formats and styles.

The Nachlass has been photographed on standard colour film. The photographs are digitized and transferred to Photo-CDs. From the Photo-CDs JPEG-compressed versions of the images are produced.

The edition is the result of a co-operation between the Wittgenstein Archives and the HIT Centre at the University of Bergen and Oxford University Press. The work is made possible through an understanding with the Wittgenstein Trustees.

In the software demonstration, we will mainly show the published product. We will also be prepared to demonstrate some of the production tools and methods on request.

In the poster presentation, we will describe the edition's design and production methods. We will present the various facilities offered end users.