Istory (for History)

"History is the present. That's why every generation writes it anew. But what most people think of as history is its end product, myth," says E.L. Doctorow. The author of Ragtime has had his share of fun with history over the years. The typo Istory was, at first, a bit of a mystery. The great majority of typos here have their problems at the end of a long word, making them extra hard for proofreaders to spot them. The answer came when we looked at the six records in OhioLink that contain istory. It turns out that the typo was generated by an extra space between the 'H' and the 'I.' Istory is found on the 'D' list at Typographical Errors in Library Databases, meaning that it was present in at least two but no more than seven records. There are more than 300 of these in WorldCat, so the true probability is somewhat greater than our listing would suggest.

Today's photo shows Governor's Island in New York Harbor, named "The Island of Nuts" by the Dutch. It was occupied by the British in the Revolutionary War before the Battle of Long Island was fought in Brooklyn. A fort (pictured here) was constructed prior to the War of 1812. The island has seen its share of history. The original image can be found at http://www.pbase.com/terryballard/image/65043749