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Elfwreck, two words for you: slippery slope.
You are defending things like adding a TOC and changing a font and altering the formatting--but where has anyone objected to this sort of thing? The objection is to the alteration of the words themselves.
While changing a spelling from "aeroplane" to "airplane" is insignificant, it is also unnecessary. The original word is perfectly understandable. But let's say you change it. Then you start changing words like "fagot" and "gay" and "niggardly" and a whole host of others. Then you decide that the author was being racist and you take it upon yourself to sanitize the text by inventing a workaround the author never dreamed of. What next? Do you decide to change a male character to a female character because you think girl readers don't have a role model to identify with? Do you decide that a character's non-PC statements should be revised? Where do you stop?
Isn't it better not to start on that slippery slope? Leave the damn "aeroplane" alone, leave all of it alone to stand or fall on its own merits. Write your own book, put your own name on it, be as PC as you want--but leave the original words alone.
Treat the book as you should a quote. You don't get to change quoted material, no matter how much you think you can improve it with a few tweaks. It is what it is. Let it be
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