Glossary

Some of the terms used in the documentation of the Original Dictation Project will be unfamiliar to some. This Glossary is intended to provide some assistance.

Edition
As distinct from version. We expect all editions of any given version to be substantially identical, and if something is not substantially identical, it’s not a “new edition of an old version” but rather an “entirely new version”.
E-text
Basically this is a computer word processor file as opposed to a physical paper document or a digital photographic image of a physical paper document. Unlike photographs of printed pages, an e-text can be searched for character strings, can be exported into a word processor, can be cut and pasted and reformatted, and for those working with computers, is generally much more useful than a printed page.
Facsimiles

This refers to a photographic image of a document, usually a written document, on some physical medium such as paper. Unlike an e-text which is a typed word processor file, a facsimile is a photograph or photocopy of a physical page. Being a photograph, it is less subject to copying mistakes, but it is also not “searchable text” and as such cannot be searched for character strings.

To date we have been unable to inspect any of the original documents, the best we’ve been able to secure are photocopies which are several degrees removed from the original documents themselves. While the provenance and authenticity of these documents cannot be verified, there is no reason to suppose that they are not authentic copies. There is reason to suppose that they are not always complete, they sometimes have missing pages, and sometimes the original sequence of pages cannot be determined with certainty.

Manuscript
A document made by hand, either handwritten on a physical medium such as paper, typed manually onto paper, or in recent times, prepared initially in a word processor and suitable for printing. Since the Course was all written down just before computers became generally available, all of the Scribal Manuscripts are paper documents, either handwritten or typed. So far only photocopies of those have been made available.
Original
Usually it means the “first” or that which pertains to “origins” but it may also mean the most recent, new and different, as in “an original new interpretation of an ancient work”.
Primary Sources

A primary source is a document or physical object which was written or created during the time under study. These sources were present during an experience or time period and offer an inside view of a particular event. Some types of primary sources include:

  • Original documents (excerpts or translations acceptable): Diaries, speeches, manuscripts, letters, interviews, news film footage, autobiographies, official records
  • Creative works: Poetry, drama, novels, music, art
  • Relics or artifacts: Pottery, furniture, clothing, buildings

In the Study of A Course in Miracles our Primary Sources are principally the Scribes own manuscripts of the Course for which we have been able to obtain copies. There are also other writings and recordings and transcripts of recordings by the Scribes and others which shed light upon the original scribing process. It has taken many years to assemble this much. There is a great deal more which we know or suspect to exist, of which we have not yet been able to obtain copies.

Secondary Sources

A secondary source interprets and analyzes primary sources. These sources are one or more steps removed from the event. Secondary sources may have pictures, quotes or graphics of primary sources in them. Some types of secondary sources include publicactions such as Textbooks, magazine articles, histories, criticisms, commentaries, encyclopedias and so forth.

Version
One of the five discreet historical scribal versions created by the Scribes. Since the Scribal Era there have been additional unique “versions” created by later editors. None of these are “primary sources” because the Scribes were not involved in their creation or in the decisions about editing changes found in them.
Volume
The first three volumes published by the Scribes in 1975 are the Text, Workbook, and Manual. To those first three others were later added, Use of Terms, Psychotherapy, Song of Prayer, and Gifts of God. The primary source material and some editions of the Course include additional volumes, which include the Preface, the Special Messages, and the Pre-Canonical scribing. Each is a discreet document and is referred to here as a volume.