OCR, Forgotten Futures X revealed

[ffutures]

Finished scanning the book last night, still a lot more errors than I would like - say one for every couple of lines on the worst pages - but a hell of a lot better than my first attempts. I've corrected the first two chapters, out of 21, which isn't bad going.

I might as well say that the book is (roll drums) The Passionate Witch, AKA I Married A Witch, by Thorne Smith (1892-1934), who has just gone out of Euro copyright. I've decided that a 1920s-30s comedy fantasy campaign based on Smith and possibly some others might be a fun idea - there's a bonus that this time setting makes it easy for referees to use CoC source material for backgrounds etc., although of course the mood will be VERY different. The books I want to include, but currently can't find my copies, are Topper and Topper Takes A Trip, possibly one or two others. I'd love to include as many as possible, so if anyone feels like taking a hand in this, and (for example) scanning one of the other books, I would be VERY grateful. The sole thing to note is that the source needs to be an edition pre 1980, since after that there may be editorial copyright in the work although the author's copyright has expired.

I'll put The Passionate Witch on line once I've finished with the corrections and HTML conversion; this will probably be after Easter unless I build up a LOT of speed.

Comments

[timill]

I have a spare copy of Topper Takes a Trip if you want it for scanning?

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

That'd be useful, if it's one you don't mind me flattening etc.

Reminds me I'm supposed to bring that railway software for you at Easter.

[timill]

It's a spare copy - I was thinking of ebaying it, but suspect I'd get no bids. You can tear it up if you like to make things easier...

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Many thanks - The Passionate Witch more or less fell apart during scanning, which is why I made a point of mentioning it.

[ex-dogmeat720.livejournal.com]

Want me to correct a couple of chapters for you?

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I think it'll be easier to put the whole thing on line once done - I'm five chapters into it so far, so with a bit of luck I'll do that within a few days.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

Good News! I'm a Thorne Smith fan and have lots of his books. I can also easily get you a pre-80s copy of almost any of his books.

Bad News! The Passionate Witch is not out of copyright. Yes, Smith died in 1934, but The Passional Witch was actually completed by another author and it was published in 1941.

Still, I think a Thorne Smith RPG would be great! Do you have Night Life of the Gods or Skin and Bones?

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

DAMN! I thought it was just posthumous publication, but on checking this I find you're right, it was mostly written by Norman Matson, an author who didn't die until the sixties, and I'd imagine the copyright situation would be a nightmare. So I might as well ditch it now and start on something else. I can always have it on the "recommended reading" page. [Grumble] 30 bloody hours wasted! [/grumble]

The books I already have are Passionate Witch, which unfortunately now goes into the research pile, and The Stray Lamb; somewhere I ought to have Topper, Topper Takes a Trip, and Night Life of the Gods, but I'm damned if I can find them, and I'm beginning to suspect they got lost or strayed into the charity shop pile when I moved into this flat a few years ago, so I'll have to pick them up again. Tim has promised me his spare Topper Takes a Trip. Topper is a must, and any recommendations you have on others would be appreciated.

Don't send me anything for the moment, there's a con next weekend and I'm hoping I'll pick some stuff up there.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

Saw this post second. Will do on the sending... I'll just add it to my list of things to check for in used book shops. Most of the ones I've seen have been from the 30s or 40s and are usually quite inexpensive. Frex I have a "Thorne Smith 3 Bagger" from 1945 with neat illos with The Glorious Pool, Skin and Bones, and Topper that I got for free.

I would very much like to read Dream's End. It's his only book I haven't been able to turn up, and from what I've seen it's very rare. It won't work for your game, as it's alledgedly serious rather than comical.