Development: The Book Nine prototype is a Flash application developed by professor John Rumrich, graduate student Olin Bjork, and undergraduate student Shea Suski with the help of others at the University of Texas at Austin. It was funded by a 2005-2006 grant from the UT-Austin's Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services (LAITS). The interface design is informed by Bjork and Rumrich's experiences teaching poetry as well as cognitive research demonstrating that comprehension increases when students read and hear a text sequentially or simultaneously. The audio recordings provide dramatic rather than strictly metrical renditions of Milton's verse.
Textual Note: We are using the 1674 second edition as our copy-text. The pagination, however, corresponds to the 1688 fourth edition at a ratio of 1:2 (17 lines per page to 34 lines per page). We have modernized spelling and punctuation. Elision has been retained when necessary for the meter.
Configurability: For the projector versions, which can be obtained from the download page, users can edit the annotations.
Development: The Book One audiotext was funded by a 2006-2007 grant from LAITS.
Textual Note: We are using the 1674 second edition as our copy-text. The pagination corresponds to the 1674 second edition at a ratio of 1:2 (17 lines per page to 34 lines per page). We have modernized spelling and punctuation. Elision has been retained when necessary for the meter. The frontispiece and title page images are from John Geraghty's facsimile project.
Configurability: For the projector versions, which can be obtained from the download page, users can edit the text, the annotations, and the commentary on the illustrations.
Development: The Book Two audiotext was funded by a 2006-2007 grant from LAITS.
Textual Note: We are using the 1674 second edition as our copy-text. The pagination corresponds to the 1674 second edition at a ratio of 1:2 (17 lines per page to 34 lines per page). We have modernized spelling and punctuation. Elision has been retained when necessary for the meter.
Configurability: For the projector versions, which can be obtained from the download page, users can edit the text and annotations. They can also substitute their own mp3 audio and XML timings.
The audiotexts have 4-5 modes, each of which offers a distinct visual engagement with the poem.
Text-only Mode: Displays our modernized reading text on both sides. The Book One and Book Two audiotexts load this text from an external file (pl#.txt) that can be edited with any text editor. This file, however, must remain in the same folder as the Flash movie or projector file (pl#.swf, pl#.app, or pl#.exe) and cannot be renamed.
Annotation Mode: Displays our (somewhat minimalist) notes in parallel with the reading text. The audiotexts load their annotations from an external file (pl#_annos.txt) that can be edited with any text editor. This file, however, must remain in the same folder as the Flash movie or projector file (pl#.swf, pl#.app, or pl#.exe) and cannot be renamed..
Comparison Mode: Displays a transcript of the 1674 second edition text in parallel with the reading text. To give the feel of a facsimile, we have used a character set that includes a long s and ligatures. This replica of a 17th century font is Jeff Lee's JSL Ancient.
Electronic Text (etext) Mode: Displays the content of pl#.txt in a scrollable text box so as to allow copying lines and passages. At present, only the Book One audiotext offers this mode.
Your Notes Mode: Displays an input text box in parallel with the reading text. The audiotexts create a shared local object file ( pl#_notes.sol), also known as a "Flash cookie," on the user's computer. When the user saves notes, they are stored in this file, from which they are then imported for each new session. By default, the Flash player sets the maximum size of .sol files to 100kb, so we have limited user notes to 2000 characters (roughly 300 words) per page. This system has several other limitations:
These limitations can be combated by finding out where the Flash player has created the .sol file, copying it, and storing the copy elsewhere as a backup and/or for use on other computers. The following guide will help you locate the .sol file based on your operating system:
Here are three other things to keep in mind:
Version Change Log: