[Ads-l] Incorrect dates displayed in Internet Archive scans

[Rich Lowenthal]

The initial copyright date is also incorrect: "1910" rather than "1960."

There are also leather-bound copies of the book available on the 
Internet that cite the 1916 date. I would guess that the incorrect date 
is the result of poor scanning and OCR work, as is the case of many 
print-on-demand titles that come from India. The scanned copy also 
differs from the first edition in that it lacks the "all rights 
reserved" notice on the copyright page.


------ Original Message ------
>From "ADSGarson O'Toole" 
<00001aa1be50b751-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
To ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Date 10/26/2026 12:40:27 PM
Subject Incorrect dates displayed in Internet Archive scans

>While searching in the Internet Archive I came across a novel with an
>incorrect publication date. It is common to find mistakes in the
>metadata of databases such as the Internet archive, Google Books,
>newspapers.com, etc. But this situation was different and more
>dangerous. The incorrect data appeared on a page scan of the book that
>was supposed to display the correct publication data.
>
>The novel "A Burnt-Out Case" by Graham Greene was first published in
>1960, but the publication date on the scan claimed that the book was
>published in 1916.
>
>Incorrect Date on Page Scan: 1916
>Actual First Publication Date: 1960
>Book Title: A Burnt-Out Case
>Author: Graham Greene
>Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd, London
>Book Source: Digital Library of India
>https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.150016/page/n3/mode/2up?q=1916
>
>[Begin excerpt]
>This English language edition first published 1916
>[End excerpt]
>
>I think (and hope) this problem is rare. Have others seen this
>problem? Can someone offer an explanation (on or off list)?
>Garson
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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