Anne of Green Gables Manuscript Revealed Online
Scanning pages and analyzing them didn’t happen overnight. The project brought together a multidisciplinary team of twelve people, including the LM Montgomery Institute and the University of Prince Edward Island, over two and a half years. For example, the university’s Robertson Library was responsible for digitizing a manuscript that was more than a century old.
571 pages of 716 pages of story, 137 pages of notes and 289 pages of stories and poems are now available for everyone.
You can see the handwritten manuscript, notes, underlined places, additions. We witness the birth of characters and stories that really allow us to get inside the head of Lucy Maud Montgomery.
A more accessible manuscript
From the first moment you are on the site, you will be invited to explore every interesting detail of the digitized manuscript. Every pencil stroke and curl, every edit and revision, and every intriguing mystery or lingering question
Emily Woster, associate professor at the University of Minnesota Duluth, researcher at the LM Montgomery Institute, and curator of the exhibition.
The original manuscript is housed in the Art Gallery of the Confederation Center of the Arts in Charlottetown. According to Monique Lafontaine, the center’s French programming manager, the project thus makes it more accessible.
The art museum receives many requests from people who want to see the manuscript. People come to the island on vacation and say: we will see the manuscript. But no, it doesn’t work like that
he insists on the document’s fragility.
The person who is authorized to get acquainted with the manuscript in its paper version must do so wearing gloves for a limited time.
The original manuscript of Anne…of Green Gables is usually displayed several pages at a time, but will now be available online in its entirety.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Stacey Janzer
By digitizing the entire manuscript, including the back pages, you can actually consult it wherever you are in the world.
the boss continues.
Articles about Anne’s universe
Digital exhibition is not limited to manuscripts. More than twenty articles written by authors from 15 different countries allow you to learn more about Lucy Maud Montgomery, her life, career, genealogy, literary influences.
The site also has articles and maps on the island, then Cavendish. Other content informs the visitor about the novel’s legacy, its translation into Swedish, its influence in Japan, and television or theater adaptations.
Monique Lafontaine is responsible for French programming and activities at the Charlottetown Confederation Center for the Arts.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Laurent Rigaux
This is a site for everyone, in the sense that we love Anne [ou pas], will not, gives an idea of what life was like at that time. There’s all this information that’s really really interesting
– Monique Lafontaine insists.
” There’s a whole historical context that’s really interesting, bringing Anne and then Montgomery back into history. »
Funded by Digital Museums Canada, the exhibition will be on display for five years.
It remains to be seen what we will do with all the digitization of pages in five years. We have discussed it a bit, it is not finalized yet
Monique Lafontaine explains.
Difficulty of exercises in English
The French version of the digital exhibition was prepared by the manager. The translation of the manuscript in particular was not without problems. There are many versions of the novel, including the oddly European version, which is very European
he explains.
In order to stay true to the spirit of the manuscript, some parts had to be completely rewritten so that, for example, the names of flowers corresponded to those used at the time.
Another problem is with repetitions, which are forbidden in French but tolerated in English.
said Morella, said Matthew, said Anne. Et puis il n’y a personne qui va sourciller, tandis qu’en français on ne fait pas ça, on a tendance à vouloir trouver des synonymes, mais il n’ y a jamais de synonymes vraiment parfaits”,”text”:”En anglais, on va dire said Morella, said Matthew, said Anne. Et puis il n’y a personne qui va sourciller, tandis qu’en français on ne fait pas ça, on a tendance à vouloir trouver des synonymes, mais il n’ y a jamais de synonymes vraiment parfaits”}}”>We will say it in English Morella said, Matthew said, Anna said. And then there’s no one to raise their eyebrows, whereas in French we don’t, we want to find synonyms, but there are never really perfect synonyms.
Monique Lafontaine says.
The Anne of Green Gables: LMMontgomery and the Making of Anne digital exhibition website allows you to explore the novel’s manuscript in detail.
Image: screenshot annemanuscript.ca
The problem is that synonyms are often chosen [dans des éditions françaises du roman] changed the intonation of the text and then changed Montgomery’s intonation as well. So I decided to ignore the rules of the French language and then repeat dit, dit, dit
he continues.
” I think it was better for the reader to stay true to Montgomery like this. »
The digital exhibition can be viewed at annemanuscipt.ca. Visitors can also help researchers by examining the manuscript, which contains some mysteries, such as the meaning of several numbers and even the exact date it was written.
