User talk:Antiquary/Archive 1

Welcome!

Welcome to Wikipedia, Antiquary! I am Omtay38 and have been editing Wikipedia for quite some time. I just wanted to say hi and welcome you to Wikipedia! If you have any questions, feel free to leave me a message on my talk page or by typing {{helpme}} at the bottom of this page. I love to help new users, so don't be afraid to leave a message! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are some pages that you might find helpful:

I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Oh yeah, I almost forgot, when you post on talk pages you should sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); that should automatically produce your username and the date after your post. If you need help, check out Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or place {{helpme}} on your talk page and ask your question there. Again, welcome!

--omtay 38 21:36, 18 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

DYK nomination

I nominated your article The Adventures of Harry Richmond for DYK. Joe Chill (talk) 01:41, 15 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Why thank you! I'm not sure what to think, since the whole DYK nomination process is new to me. Harry Richmond may not be one of my best, but I'll take your nomination as a vote of confidence. Antiquary (talk) 19:42, 15 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

DYK for The Adventures of Harry Richmond

On February 28, 2010, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article The Adventures of Harry Richmond, which you created or substantially expanded. You are welcome to check how many hits your article got while on the front page (here's how, quick check ) and add it to DYKSTATS if it got over 5,000. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

Materialscientist (talk) 06:03, 28 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Barnstar

		The Literary Barnstar
		For your high-quality articles on books, poems, and novels. INeverCry 17:11, 14 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Пожалуйста. Not many lovers of old literature here, but quality rather than quantity. Articles on the classics like yours and The Banished One's will always find a few discriminating admirers. So far I've contented myself with the humble task of finding illustrations, covers, and title pages for some of these. INeverCry 19:13, 14 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The Story of Sigurd

Having looked through The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs, I think the article is pretty close to GA. The only thing I saw that concerned me was the length of the synopsis of books III and IV. Can/should these be expanded? I can take care of the refs and links (cite templates etc). Thoughts? INeverCry 20:31, 14 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

DYK has the "5 day rule", which disqualifies Sigurd. I think GA is plenty realistic. My one and only forray into GA nominating went well, (The Vicar of Bullhampton), so maybe this would too. Once we have the article ready we can ask Malleus or Drmies to do the review. I'll start on the refs and links asap. --INeverCry 21:44, 14 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The unreffed second paragraph in the influence section is a small problem. I've asked the section's creator about it. INeverCry 21:53, 14 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Once I'm through with the refs, I'll most likely GA nominate it, but I don't know if the review will get started as soon as Sunday. I'm sure the reviewer will have plenty of questions and suggestions. I'll try to focus on anything technical while you can handle content questions. I should be ready to nominate it today or tomorrow. INeverCry 19:26, 15 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I've nominated it- (cross your fingers, knock on wood, etc ;). INeverCry 20:44, 15 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Looks like a reviewer has signed on. Make sure you watch here for whenever he gets it going.

Also - After rating your article on Byron's The Vision of Judgement for WP:Poetry, I noticed that some of his other poems were badly under-rated. Childe Harold was rated "low importance" (!!!) while Don Juan was only "mid importance"...

--Did you take a look at Ottava's articles? He's the man when it comes to English lit (or "was" the man, unfortunately). INeverCry 02:16, 23 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The GA review has been started. The reviewer made some suggestions for copy-edits etc, and I've taken care of these (I hope :). INeverCry 20:00, 29 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I don't like to let things build up. A while back, I nominated the List of Russian explorers for FL, and my friend and I had our hands full, so I got used to doing whatever I could whenever something could be done. I also want to keep the reviewer going if I can. I enjoy copy-editing more than anything else I do here, so it's really not a bother. I need some GA articles going forward, or I'll start losing interest. I have some Russian articles that a friend and I have done, like Ivan Bunin and Nikolai Leskov, that are really worthy of FA status, but the Russian-language references have stopped me from nominating so far. Hopefully we can get this article a green button. INeverCry 22:24, 29 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I use the 's rather than the ' as you do, and as my The English Language: A User's Guide by Jack Lynch recommends, but the other usage is widespread, and it's probably better to go with the reviewer on this one. Grammar is all over the place on Wikipedia, not to mention the British/American English question. ;) I'll keep an eye on the article; I run an ebay business, so I'm always online. The article's looking good btw, and there really wasn't much for me to do. You should see how many hours I spend cleaning up those long articles for my Russian friend. INeverCry 23:01, 29 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The Hind and the Panther, etc

File:The Hind and the Panther 1687.jpg

Check out this 1687 2nd edition title page I found for your The Hind and the Panther! This might be the oldest title page I've found yet. I also found a portrait of your gaoler Mr. Monson. INeverCry 18:16, 9 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I also found a title page for your favorite novel. I'm planning on reading some of Scott's works soon myself, starting with the Keepsake Stories and the 1st volume of Chronicles of the Canongate. The Sigurd reviewer seems like a busy guy, so I guess we can continue to play the good ol' waiting game. INeverCry 20:12, 9 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I found images for most of your articles. Some of these are GA quality or pretty close, including Red Cotton Night-Cap Country, Old Fortunatus, The Floure and the Leafe, The Squire of Low Degree, and Lothair. We'll have to see how it goes with Sigurd, but these others are worth looking at for nominations. INeverCry 02:06, 10 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I've seen some GA poetry articles that're about the same length as some of yours. GA is toughest for bios and most novels, but short stories and non-epic/long poetry don't require quite as much. As for adding sections or expanding, I can work on an article for hours if need be. I won't be quick to nominate though. I learned my lesson with my ill-fated FL nomination of The List of Russian explorers. INeverCry 18:17, 11 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Sir Walter

File:My Scott collection.JPG

My Scott collection minus 4 volumes that I forgot about

Here's my Scott collection (all I'm missing is The Black Dwarf). I've read some of his letters (and some that were written to him, like the one by Lord Byron praising him), a little bit of his journal, some of his short poems, and some of Lockhart's life. The volume at top left is his Lives of the Novelists and Dramatists, which I've also skimmed through. My pride and joy is the Tales of a Grandfather, which has a knight on horseback on the front. I always start with shorter works, but Waverly, The Antiquary, Rob Roy, and Guy Mannering are on the short list. From what I've read, he seems like a truly good man, and a great genius.

I hope you don't mind my recommending the shorter works of the "Irish Sir Walter Scott", John Banim, especially The Churchyard Watch. Banim isn't nearly what Scott is, but his and his brother's stories are worth reading, if you ever get the chance. INeverCry 00:04, 10 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

If you want authors that remind you of Scott, you might try John Galt or James Hogg, or Scott's "protégé" G.P.R. James. There's even a Russian Scott. INeverCry 18:27, 11 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Your comment on Cooper is more than echoed by Mark Twain in his essay Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offences, where he demolishes the poor guy. Twain was a bit of an ego-maniac and a ham himself though. Btw, Sheridan Le Fanu's early novels, like The Cock and Anchor are said to be in the Scottian vain. INeverCry 20:25, 11 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

File:BooksINeverCry.JPG

In place of a recommended Russian reading list

You want to stay away from translators like Garnett and Hapgood generally, as they both worked too quickly, skipped things they didn't understand, and watered down some of the more risque passages, especially in Dostoyevsky. The two best translators, the ones I would recommend first, are David McDuff and the team of Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. Other top translators are Ignat Avsey, Jessie Coulson (especially for Dostoyevsky), Andrew MacAndrew, Michael R. Katz, Hugh Aplin, and the slightly older David Magarshack. When it comes to Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, I prefer the translation of Rosemary Edmonds, as she translates the French dialogue in the text, rather than giving the French translations as foot notes like Pevear/Volokhonsky. I hope that helps; any questions about Russian literature and writers are more than welcome. INeverCry 19:18, 11 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I like Stevenson as well, but mostly for his more off-color works, like Dr J and Mr H, The Body Snatchers, and my favorite Olalla. I plan on taking up The Master of Ballantrae at some point, so we'll see if I like that better than Treasure Island and Kidnapped. Stevenson's favorite author was Honoré de Balzac, himself a dedicated reader of Sir Walter. Stevenson was also one of the few writers I've seen who liked the works of GPR James. James wrote a novel on the Jacobites called Henry Smeaton if you have any interest. Btw, thanks for your work on the Trampwoman. I think my next project will be expanding Robert Bage using Sir Walter's short life of him from Lives of the Eminent Novelists and Dramatists. There's also a life of Clara Reeve in that volume that I plan on using. INeverCry 21:22, 12 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I used Scott as a ref to expand Bage and Reeve, but, unfortunately, he's turning out to be a bit iffy as a source. But sources on both writers are scarce, so who knows? I don't know if what I added is accurate or not, but atleast it looks pretty good. ;) INeverCry 02:05, 13 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I've got a big collection of Cambridge Companions for sources, and I just ordered a copy of the Oxford History of English Lit, so I should be ok. I just wanted to use Scott as a ref for a bit of a lark, if nothing else. INeverCry 20:53, 13 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I've yet to read The Devils or Karamazov. My favorites of his are Poor Folk, The House of the Dead, and the story The Serf Maray. here are some of his letters etc. As for Ballantrae, I don't necessarily need off-color, they're just the only works of his that I've liked so far.

In regard to the Trampwoman etc, you're more than welcome to work on any of my humble articles. INeverCry 23:05, 12 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

My 1st poetry article

After seeing your great articles, I thought I'd do one on my favorite poem: "A Trampwoman's Tragedy" by Thomas Hardy. This is my first article on a poem, but not my last. It needs some more work on the criticism section, and some info on theme, but I think it looks pretty decent for now. I don't know if you've read this poem, but it's one of the most beautiful and touching poems I've ever read. I'm planning more articles on his poems, possibly including "The Ruined Maid" and "The Respectable Burgher" (a poem of special interest to atheists like ourselves), among others. I may put this poem in one of your "favorite" userboxes. INeverCry 01:06, 11 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not a huge fan of Hardy's novels, especially Jude the Obscure and his other oddities (Two on a Tower, The Well-Beloved, etc), but his The Trumpet Major is one of my favorite novels. His stories often feature gratuitously miserable details, so I can understand your not being a big fan.

I would recommend that you get rid of google and get your pdfs or djvus from here instead. I've downloaded 100s of pdfs and djvus with no problems, and it's where I get all of my title pages, covers, old portraits and pics, and illustrations. INeverCry 18:38, 11 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

new navboxes

I did 2 overdue navboxes today: Template:Percy Bysshe Shelley & Template:John Keats. I was hoping you could look them over to make sure I didn't leave any mistakes or typos. I don't know how familiar you are with these gentlemen, but if you see any mistakes with the years of publications please feel free to fix them as well. I also expanded and cleaned up Template:Byron, and found quite a few title pages for his early works. INeverCry 06:31, 14 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The lists do go by publication date. Future navboxes include 1 for William Morris. INeverCry 19:24, 14 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

James Hogg

I just did a pretty substantial expansion of Hogg's article, though the critical part is going to need some serious work. Take a look when you get a chance. INeverCry 02:57, 15 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I've never liked criticism in general, and I often disagree with it when I do condescend to read it. Anything you can do for the article would be great. The Blackwood/Maga/Noctes info, and then the Wordsworth stuff and what's below it is none of my doing, and some of it sounds like it was copied and pasted directly from the source. Wordsworth is a great poet, but he aggravates me with comments like the one about Hogg. He once read his poem "Rob Roy's Grave" to his guests who were preparing to read Scott's novel Rob Roy, and then commented "What more is there to be said on the subject?" in deprecation of Scott's work. The fact that Wordsworth was a flip-flopped former radical, and that he abandoned his own daughter... but enough. ;)

On another note, I spent a good part of the day doing my first GA review: Flixton, Greater Manchester

. If only our reviewer were half as quick about it. It looks like I'm going to have to bug him about Sigurd. INeverCry 02:21, 16 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I talked to him, and he's back to it. Looks like there's plenty of new suggestions of things to do now. I don't quite understand the Tolkien bit, but I'm tired and it's almost my bedtime... I've asked Chiswick Chap to see about it... INeverCry 06:56, 16 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I think the critical section is fine, as I said on the review page, but if you have anything else to throw in it can't hurt. I looked for a critical edition on Amazon etc to no avail. My new project is seeing if I can get The Tragedy of Tragedies by Fielding to GA. INeverCry 23:25, 16 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The Tragedy of Tragedies is fine too, but the guy I asked about it talked of needed changes that I have no patience for or interest in. The Sigurd review should've been done weeks ago; I won't tell you what I think of the reviewer. I'm more than tired of Wikipedia in general, though not of good people such as yourself. This sums it all up, just about. I'd rather be reading Sir Walter and others... INeverCry 06:20, 21 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Morris navbox etc

Here's the William Morris navbox. I made it a simple works box, seeing that there's already a Pre-Raphaelite navbox for Morris and his set. I also did one of my Irish-themed navboxes for Thomas Moore. INeverCry 17:32, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Sigurd again etc

Hi, I'm back. Sorry for being a drama queen. I've left another message at the GA reviewer's talk in the hopes that he finishes it soon. He's had plenty of time, and should be done already. INeverCry 21:36, 27 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

An IP user recently added a clumsy little section to Sigurd. I've adjusted it, so hopefully it'll pass muster. All Sin really has to do is check through the refs... Thanks for getting rid of that questionable post. The details about GA etc were relatively decent, but the rest sounded a bit snobby. INeverCry 18:26, 28 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The Journal of Sir Walter Scott

Interesting article. Thanks for linking it to Guthrie. FruitMonkey (talk) 21:38, 27 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Seems to be the right guy, but I hope my death is as untimely as 84. FruitMonkey (talk) 18:36, 28 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The article looks great (no surprise of course). I found the 1st ed title pg. INeverCry 22:03, 27 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Title pages

I've found an easy way to add borders to white title pages using Gimp. It looks alot better doesn't it? (see Scott's Journal)- Now it looks like a page rather than text floating in the infobox. INeverCry 01:42, 28 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I've added borders to all the Scott title pages. I also found title pages for the Scott articles that were in need of them. INeverCry 03:15, 28 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I had thought about asking someone to produce a border parameter in infobox book, which is actually a decent idea seeing that 100s of title pages are white with no borders, but that would probably take ages. My little fix only takes a minute, so I'll go with it. I'm only about 10% proficient with Gimp, which isn't bad considering the immensity of what can be done with the program, and that it really isn't that far below Photoshop. INeverCry 18:36, 28 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]