[Genealib] Transcribing Civil War Diaries

[Levy, Suzanne S.]

ONe of my volunteers owns a family Civil War Diary and 80 letters from
the diarist to his wife. Her question is in transcribing how do you deal
with punctuation, spelling errors, grammar, etc.? His vocabulary, but
his spelling and grammar are atrocious. He has also made rare derogatory
remarks about companions and superiors and she has been advised against
including full text of those remarks.
 
She has checked Turabian and Chicago Manual of Style for ideas but they
weren't helpful. A google search has also not been very productive.
 
Can anyone recommend any guidelines or offer suggestions on how best to
approach this. She is leaning toward transcribing them as written but
wants to make them understandable.
 
Any information and ideas would be most welcome. I thank you.
 
Suzanne S. Levy, Virginia Room Librarian
Fairfax City Regional Library
3915 Chain Bridge Road
Fairfax VA 22030
703-293-6383
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/branches/vr/
 
suzanne.levy at fairfaxcounty.gov
 
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