- What is meant by «Wittgenstein's Nachlass»?
When WAB refers to «Wittgenstein's Nachlass», we basically mean the manuscripts and typescripts which Georg Henrik von Wright listed, or would have listed, in his article «The Wittgenstein Papers» (first published 1969). This article has become the standard for cataloguing the philosophical papers which Wittgenstein left behind when he died in 1951. For this reason, the Nachlass does not, for example, include the Wittgenstein correspondence. What it does contain are about 150 items, totaling between 18 000 and 20 000 pages. These items are published in the Bergen Electronic Edition (2000). What is usually referred to as «Wittgenstein's works» is almost exclusively edited and published from the Nachlass.
- How can I obtain permission to make public use of facsimiles from the Bergen Electronic Edition?
Such permission can be obtained by writing to Oxford University Press (Oxford), WAB (Bergen), Trinity College Library (Cambridge), and the respective library, archive or legal entity which owns the original of the facsimile.
- Who are the Wittgenstein Trustees?
The original Wittgenstein Trustees were G.E.M. Anscombe (1919-2001), Rush Rhees (1905-1989), and Georg Henrik von Wright (1916-2003). Since the death of the last of the original trustees in 2003, copyrights for the Wittgenstein Nachlass have reverted to Trinity College in Cambridge. Nicholas Denyer, Peter Hacker, Anthony Kenny, Anselm Müller and Joachim Schulte now form an advisory committee to guide Trinity College on publication issues relating to the Nachlass.
- Is WAB open for research visits?
WAB is open for research visits; in fact, one of its principal functions is that of a research infrastructure. Unfortunately, WAB itself cannot currently offer financial support or stipend programs for research stays. There are, however, a range of other possibilities. The Norwegian Research Council, for example, promotes through its International Scholarship Section (IS) international research cooperation and the mobility of advanced students, researchers and artists between Norway and a whole range of other countries. Use of WAB itself is free of charge. Visitors receive a work station with Internet and telephone connection, access to the Archives' materials and the University library, and, as much as possible, personal assistance and support. If desired, visitors can present their work in guest lectures or informal discussion circles. For examples of past research visits and guest research projects see the Guests and visitors site.
- Will there be a revised Bergen Electronic Edition?
The Bergen Electronic Edition (BEE) is being revised and further developed on the basis of WAB's machine-readable version of Wittgenstein's Nachlass. The machine-readable version is currently in MECS/MECS-WIT format. A revised edition, which may remain based on the MECS/MECS-WIT machine-readable version, is planned to be available before 2010. This revision will include correction of conversion and transcription mistakes. A list of errors in BEE is already now available and continuously updated on the
Mistakes in BEE site.
- Will the Bergen Electronic Edition be made available in XML?
It is possible to export the Bergen Electronic Edition (BEE) to XML. However, more importantly, WAB will translate the source for BEE, its machine-readable version of Wittgenstein's Nachlass, into TEI guided XML. Samples of such work have already been prepared, see for example the Using XML to generate research tools for Wittgenstein scholars by collaborative groupwork project site. From the outputs site of this project one can download, in addition to HTML and PDF outputs in different filtering formats, the respective project XML, DTD and XSL files. The machine-readable version in XML will include many options, such as the production of a revised BEE, but also user defined online filtering on the fly (see for example the WAB XML Transformation site). The machine-readable version is currently in MECS/MECS-WIT format, and the current plan is to retain this format when producing the first revised edition of BEE.
- Does the Bergen Electronic Edition run under Windows XP?
The Bergen Electronic Edition (BEE) FolioViews infobases run under Windows XP, but not the BEE picture viewer, InfoView. However, through a simple change in the exec2.ini file, the infobases can be linked to a Windows XP compatible picture viewer, and thus the Nachlass facsimile can be viewed with BEE under Windows XP. For further technical issues on BEE see OUP's Wittgenstein's Nachlass on CD-ROM site.
- Can one get online access to the Bergen Electronic Edition?
The Bergen Electronic Edition is available online in the Past Masters series from InteLex Corporation. At WAB, parts of the Nachlass are made freely available on the Web in the frame of specific sub-projects of WAB; examples include the Wittgenstein MS115 online and the
Wittgenstein TS201 online sites.
- How can I download the audio files from the WAB "Fragments" site?
The audio files are prepared for streaming in QuickTime .mov format, but not for downloading. If QuickTime is installed on your machine, streaming will start automatically by clicking on the file. With Internet Explorer it can take some time before streaming begins. If you don't have QuickTime installed, you can download it for free from the QuickTime site.
Last change: 2006.8.16 by ap |
