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I think you are both correct. The ebook is protected by copyright, but only because new creative work has been done to the PD text.
IF all that is stripped out, then what is left is not covered by copyright anymore. However, as rkomar points out, the only real way to be sure you have done so is to do a comparison with the actual original document. Otherwise, you have no true idea if what you have is consistent with the text that is in the public domain. It's possible they have made significant changes to the text itself.
If you strip out the preface and footnotes, you might be left with a PD book. Or, you might not.
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