The Register®

Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/05/google_books/

Google Book Search reveals scanner's sleight of hand

Rush job to digitise world's literary heritage

By Lester Haines

Posted in Bootnotes, 5th December 2007 12:22 GMT

Google appears to be in a bit of a hurry to achieve its ultimate dark aim of indexing all of the world's knowledge, including humanity's entire literary output, as this image (http://books.google.com/books?id=lAIJAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#PPP3,M1) of an 1855 issue of The Gentleman's Magazine demonstrates:

Google book scan showing woman's hand (http://books.google.com/books?id=lAIJAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#PPP3,M1)

Quite what "Sylvanus Urban", the editor of this fine London periodical, would have made of some heavily-bejewelled, partially-rubberclad former colonial female pawing his material is anyone's guess, but we suspect it would involve heavy choking on his beef and oyster pie, followed by a stiff brandy and an indignant letter to the Times. ®

Bootnote

Thanks to Dave Walker-Sharpe for the heads-up. He notes: "There are other faux-pas in this work, too, with folded over pages and poorly-scanned images on various pages." Yes indeed, as the old saying goes: "Less haste, more speed."