Quote:
Originally Posted by Catlady
I don't know--modernizing seems like a slippery slope. Would a modern reader really puzzle over "to-day" and "ash-tray," and need to see "today" and "ashtray" instead? A spelling like "clew" might be a tad confusing out of context, but clear enough in context.
I would rather see the spellings and punctuation left alone, and some kind of glossary or notes added to explain oddities that are thought to hinder understanding.
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And yet, as I noted earlier, this is exactly what the overwhelming majority of commercially-published versions of the classics do, so obviously modern publishers think it makes sense. The "Penguin Classics" edition of Jane Austen's books is about the only one that retains original spelling and punctuation; pretty much all others are modernised (including the PG editions).