MD3PAD
Toby G Levy
tobylevy at juno.com
Wed Jan 4 13:47:12 CST 2006
I have taken it upon myself to re-read Mason and Dixon at three pages a
day. I may from time to time post my notes as I read. Feel free to
append, correct or comment on my remarks.
Pages 1-3:
The first numbered page in the hardcover first edition is page 6.
Leafing back from there one sees that page 1 is the one that has only
the
words "Mason & Dixon" in chapter heading typeface about a quarter of the
way down the page. The ampersand usage is correct in that it was a
business partnership. I believe that Mason is always listed first
because he was in generally considered to be the man in charge of their
two major undertakings.
Unnumbered page number 2 is totally blank. Unnumbered page number 3 is
a partition title page. The partition number is spelled out "One" and is
given
the name "Latitudes and Departures." This first part of the book is 250
pages. The second part of the book is over 450 pages long and the last
part
is barely 50 pages long. Both "latitudes" and "departures" have several
meanings in the context of the work. Latitudes meaning locations on the
globe that the surveyors travel through and also meaning the freedom
both surveyors give each other to disagree in their personal
philosophies.
Departures meaning the leaving to travel to foreign lands and also the
variance from their plans that they are required to make.
Toby
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