Tuesday, January 27, 2009

New Print Edition

I have finally completed my reformatting work, and have uploaded a CURRENT print copy! To do this I've made a few changes, the most significant of which is an increase in the book dimensions. It is now 5.5" x 8.5", a new size for Lulu. It is also printed on their less expensive paper (and slightly thinner!), which is why the price has gone down.

The caveat with this paper is that Lulu only prints on it in the USA, which means that if you're in another part of the world the shipping costs will probably be astronomical! I'm going to be uploading another version printed on Lulu's standard paper, which will probably be more cost effective for those in Europe etc.

There are numerous changes from the last print edition, too many to mention. Most of these have been in the PDF version for a while, but here are a few new ones:

added a table of movable feasts.
revised the Latin hyphenation algorithm (again).
revised the psalm/canticle format and layout.
revised the hymn layout.
revised the layout of the common of saints
many more page references.

Some things I'm working on (but not there yet):
English section headings (I have mixed feelings about this, but I think it's necessary for ease of use)
lots more rubrics, especially in the ordinary (probably more parallel Latin/English rubrics, too)

I'm also hoping to post a "choir" size edition soon, using the 8.5" x 11" format. What I'm hoping to do is to keep the English text about the same size, and then increase the Latin text as large as I can, given the form factor. We'll have to see how it works. To give credit where credit is due, I got the idea from the head of a Religious Community who has recently been looking for a way to make or obtain a "choir" size breviary.

I'm also debating about trying a "reverse-Baronius" style edition. This would involve normal size Latin text, with very small English text. I was thinking the other day that it might be beneficial, especially for "weaning" myself from the crutch of looking over at the English text too much as I pray. The smaller print would be there if I needed it, but I'd have to work at it more. Just a thought.

Some of the changes I've made recently would also make it easy to do a Latin-only Diurnal (or I suppose English only). There's still some more work I have to do before this is viable, but this is something I'm working towards.