Preservation and preparation
 

The publication of Martinus' works
Translations
Preservation and preparation
List of corrections and guidelines
Historical editions

 

The works consist of thousands of pages of text
The Institute has the specific task of ensuring that the thousands of pages of text that make up Martinus’ collected works are preserved and published in a satisfactory way.
 
Original manuscript of Livets Bog (The Book of Life)

Storage of the original source material
The Institute ensures that Martinus’ original source material is stored satisfactorily. This includes Martinus’ original manuscripts as well as the various printed editions of the books from the first edition onwards. Besides storing the written source material, the Institute is currently building up digital editions of the entire material. The source material also includes Martinus’ posthumous, unfinished manuscripts, which are preserved for posterity and evaluated with regard to possible later publication. The material is stored in secure, rooms with a controlled environment.

Publication in Danish and other languages
The Institute checks that the texts and symbols are reproduced exactly as Martinus wanted them to be when the individual works are published in both the original languages and in other languages. The underlying requirement is that the content must always be preserved unaltered. Martinus expressed, among other things, his attitude to his texts: “that if something is written in a primitive way, then it must remain primitive. People may see that I am not particularly well read.” The Danish editions of the works are only proofread and checked for printing errors and the like, and the orthography is updated. The texts are also checked with the original manuscript in order to find any misreadings or printer’s errors that arose in connection with the manual printing processes of that time, when the typewritten manuscripts had to be converted to letterpress printing. In the very few cases where errors in the text that disturb the meaning are found, these errors are corrected and indicated with a note in the book.

The treatment of the works takes place in accordance with the guidelines that apply to publishing Martinus’ works.

The documentation of corrections (lists of corrections)
The Institute is currently carrying out a comprehensive process of conversion, which will result in all the collected works being made available in a thoroughly checked digital form.

With the aid of digital technology the corrections in the proofs that have been made in the works all the way back to Martinus’ time, when Martinus himself took part in preparing and proofreading the content of the various editions, are documented. The Institute’s language group carries out the great amount of work involved in preparing the works, aided by many volunteers who scan and proofread texts etc.
 
Lecture in The Association of Engineers, 1971

From lectures to articles -  transcription and editing
Martinus’ works also include his many lectures, which are preserved in the form of tape recordings. These lectures have gradually been transcribed and edited and published in the form of articles in, for example, the magazine Kosmos. It was Martinus’ wish that his lectures be altered from spoken language to written language before being published as articles. For this reason the transcriptions of the lectures are prepared and checked very carefully. We see to it that precise documentation of the exact wording of the lecture is available, and equally precise documentation of the concrete changes that have been made to transform it into the written language of the article. We have a special article group that has gained a great amount of experience with these tasks.

Documentation work is to be continued
The preparation of all of Martinus’ texts demands very thorough checking and documentation. The Institute carries out an important phase in this work in connection with the current conversion of the texts into electronic form. But a great effort will have to be made in coming years too, where we, with the help of language experts and others, will continue to extend the necessary documentation. As yet we are in the first phase of this work.

Further information
Those who are interested in reading more about the work involved in conserving and publishing Martinus’ works can read the council’s article in the Danish edition of Kosmos no. 3, 2009. Lists of corrections and guidelines for publishing Martinus’ works can be seen under Lists of corrections and guidelines in the menu.