Published Blunders: Hemingway’s Words, Scribner’s Faux Pas
The Sun Also Rises is a classic. Most people know this and if you don’t, don’t worry. There must be a very good reason why. First published by Scribner (now an imprint of Simon & Schuster) in 1926, I don’t know if other publishers and subsequent publications have this same error, but in my copy of Ernest Hemingway’s book, page 133 strikes a blow to Scribner’s proofreaders.
We paid for the message and walked back to the inn. Harris was there and the three of us walked up to Roncesvalles. We went through the monastery. ‘It’s remarkable place,’ Harris said, when we came out.
No, Harris, it’s not remarkable place. A remarkable place, perhaps, but remarkable place, never.
Are you taking notes Simon? Schuster?
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Erm – was the misspelling of ‘Earnest’ deliberate??? Anyway, it’s still hilarious. I just Googled ‘editing blunders’ because I came across in a novel this sentence ‘There were limits to freedom, limits to whom you could become’. It strikes me that anyone who thinks that that should be ‘whom’ shouldn’t be an editor, let alone one working for Penguin. Hang your head in shame, Beverley Cousins.
Thanks for the comment, TLS. No, “Earnest” was not deliberate, and thank you so much for catching that. I spelled his name correctly in the tag, but not in the actual post. Silly.
It’s amazing how many errors teams of proofreaders and editors let slip into publication. I’m sure they don’t care much, deciding that there’s a minimum number of errors that is acceptable in any published work. I mean, it’s a lot to read, right? There’s bound to be some mistakes. I disagree. There’s no reason why a published work can’t be grammatically perfect.
Cheers.