THE CONSTITUTION: HAS ANYONE PROOFREAD OUR COPIES? — BY NICK LEVINSON
Appendix 13: Comparison of Black’s Law Dictionary to NARA
Black’s Law Dictionary (7th ed.), appx. B. (Details in Data Documentation for this article.)
(Core of the Constitution only. A column of dots on the left, if produced by your browser, may be disregarded. To verify any character displayed in the event of a browser deficiency, please peruse page source code, using your browser’s commands.)
- Art. I, § 2, cl. 3, fr. 5
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- hyphenation
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- Rhode Island
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- Rhode-Island
- Art. I, § 2, cl. 3, fr. 7
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- hyphenation
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- New York
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- New-York
- Art. I, § 5, cl. 2, fr. 1
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- spelling
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- Behavior
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- Behaviour
- Art. I, § 7, cl. 2, fr. 6
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- word choice
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- to the House
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- to that House
- Art. I, § 7, cl. 2, fr. 8
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- case
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- nays
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- Nays
- Art. I, § 7, cl. 3, fr. 1
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- case
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- question
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- Question
- NOTES ON NARA:
- It is unclear from the calligraphical x-height whether the initial is a capital or lower case; the letter is shaped as for lower case but is written taller and wider, albeit only somewhat taller and somewhat wider. Cf. “Q” in Art. VI, cl. 3, “Qualification”, in which the letter is shaped as for lower case but scaled large.
- Art. I, § 8, cl. 17, fr. 12
- NOTES ON FRAGMENT:
- This fragment is quoted only for “And” and the space, em-dash, or em-dash-and-space preceding the “And”.
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- spacing
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- Buildings;—And
- NOTES ON BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- This rendition fragment is “Buildings;—”/“And” across a line break.
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- Buildings;— And
- Art. I, § 9, cl. 1, fr. 1
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- case
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- Such Persons
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- such Persons
- Art. I, § 10, cl. 2, fr. 1
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- word choice
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- its
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- it’s
- NOTES ON NARA:
- The apostrophe might be somewhat small and high, but is still more likely an apostrophe than a mere mark.
- Art. II, § 1, cl. 3, fr. 15
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- word choice
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- the Person having the greater Number of Votes of the Electors
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors
- Art. II, § 1, cl. 6, fr. 1
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- punctuation
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- his Death, Resignation
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- his Death, Resignation,
- Art. II, § 1, cl. 6, fr. 3
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- punctuation
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- the Vice President
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- the Vice President,
- Art. II, § 1, cl. 7, fr. 2
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- spelling
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- increased
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- encreased
- NOTES ON NARA:
- The loop of the initial is sufficiently open to prevent confusion as an “i” without a dot.
- Art. II, § 1, cl. 8, fr. 1
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- punctuation
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- : “I
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- :— “I
- NOTES ON NARA:
- A space is present after the em-dash.
- Art. II, § 2, cl. 1, fr. 1
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- case
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- Executive
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- executive
- Art. II, § 2, cl. 1, fr. 2
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- punctuation
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- Offices
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- Offices,
- Art. III, § 1, fr. 2
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- punctuation
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- Services
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- Services,
- Art. III, § 2, cl. 1, fr. 2
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- spacing
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- Authority;—to
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- Authority;— to
- Art. III, § 2, cl. 1, fr. 5
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- spacing
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- Consuls;—to
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- Consuls;— to
- Art. III, § 2, cl. 1, fr. 6
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- spacing
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- Jurisdiction;—to
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- Jurisdiction;— to
- Art. III, § 2, cl. 1, fr. 7
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- spacing
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- Party;—to
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- Party;— to
- Art. III, § 2, cl. 1, fr. 9
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- spacing
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- State;—between
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- State;— between
- Art. III, § 2, cl. 1, fr. 12
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- spacing
-
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- —between Citizens of the
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- — between Citizens of the
- Art. III, § 2, cl. 1, fr. 14
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- word choice
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- the Grants
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- Grants
- Art. III, § 2, cl. 2, fr. 1
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- word choice
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- a Party
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- Party
- Art. III, § 2, cl. 3, fr. 1
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- case
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- The trial of
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- The Trial of
- Art. III, § 3, cl. 1, fr. 1
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- punctuation
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- them, or,
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- them, or
- Art. IV, § 2, cl. 2, fr. 2
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- case
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- demand
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- Demand
- Art. IV, § 3, cl. 1, fr. 1
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- word choice
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- erected with
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- erected within
- Before Amendment I, Statement of Desire, fr. 1
- NOTES ON FRAGMENT:
- This fragment is quoted only for presence or absence in various renditions.
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- absence of text
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- [blank]
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- 4 THE Conventions of a number of the States . . . expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses . . . ensure the benificent ends of its institution
- NOTES ON NARA:
- 1. The “4” at the beginning is addressed with its own fragment. — 2. The end is addressed with its own fragment. — 3. This rendition fragment, subject to the fragments referred to in the foregoing notes, is “4 THE Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the benificent ends of its institution”.
- Amdt. V, fr. 2
- NOTES ON FRAGMENT:
- This fragment is quoted only for word choice and not for case.
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- word choice
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- a Grand
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- Grand
- NOTES ON NARA:
- A smudge precedes “Grand”; see also Virginia’s copy of the sheet stating the first twelve proposed Amendments, illustrated in Life, Fall Special, 1991.
- Amdt. VI, fr. 4
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- spelling
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- process
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- praeess
- NOTES ON NARA:
- 1. The only thing resembling a smudge, discoloration, interruption, or other defect is at the stroke attachment point on the right side of the “a”, too low to imply an “o” instead, and thus is irrelevant to the apparent misspelling. — 2. The Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed October 9, 2002) showed no entry for “praeess” or “praess” (the latter sought only on speculation of orthographic reasonableness).
- Amdt. VII, fr. 4
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- word choice
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- tried by jury
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- tried by a jury
- Amdt. XII, fr. 15
- NOTES ON FRAGMENT:
- This fragment is quoted only for spacing or line breakage immediately after the semicolon and for the em-dash or double hyphen.
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- spacing
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- Senate;—The
- NARA SOURCE:
- Retypeset rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- Senate; -- the
- Amdt. XII, fr. 16
- NOTES ON FRAGMENT:
- This fragment is quoted only for spacing immediately after the em-dash or double hyphen.
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- spacing
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- Senate;—The
- NARA SOURCE:
- Retypeset rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- Senate; -- the
- Amdt. XII, fr. 17
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- case
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- The President of the Senate shall
- NARA SOURCE:
- Retypeset rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- the President of the Senate shall
- Amdt. XII, fr. 19
- NOTES ON FRAGMENT:
- This fragment is quoted only for spacing immediately after the semicolon.
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- spacing
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- counted;—The
- NARA SOURCE:
- Retypeset rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- counted; -- The
- Amdt. XII, fr. 21
- NOTES ON FRAGMENT:
- This fragment is quoted only for spacing immediately after the em-dash or double hyphen.
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- spacing
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- counted;—The
- NARA SOURCE:
- Retypeset rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- counted; -- The
- Amdt. XII, fr. 38
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- punctuation
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- them
- NARA SOURCE:
- Retypeset rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- them,
- Amdt. XII, fr. 40
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- word choice
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- in the case
- NARA SOURCE:
- Retypeset rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- in case
- Amdt. XII, fr. 42
- NOTES ON FRAGMENT:
- This fragment is quoted only for spacing immediately before the em-dash or double hyphen.
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- spacing
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- President.—The
- NARA SOURCE:
- Retypeset rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- President. -- The
- Amdt. XII, fr. 45
- NOTES ON FRAGMENT:
- This fragment is quoted only for spacing immediately after the em-dash or double hyphen.
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- spacing
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- President.—The
- NARA SOURCE:
- Retypeset rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- President. -- The
- NOTES ON NARA:
- The closing bracket and the asterisk in the original, presumably not meant as part of the text, were disregarded in quoting this rendition fragment.
- Amdt. XIV, § 1, fr. 1
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- punctuation
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- in the United States,
- NARA SOURCE:
- Retypeset rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- in the United States
- Amdt. XIV, § 2, fr. 1
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- hyphenation
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- Vice President
- NARA SOURCE:
- Retypeset rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- Vice-President
- Amdt. XIV, § 3, fr. 3
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- hyphenation
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- Vice President
- NARA SOURCE:
- Retypeset rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- Vice-President
- Amdt. XIV, § 5, fr. 1
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- word choice
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- power
- NARA SOURCE:
- Retypeset rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- the power
- Amdt. XV, § 1, fr. 1
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- punctuation
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- servitude.
- NARA SOURCE:
- Retypeset rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- servitude--
- Amdt. XVII, cl. 2, fr. 3
- NOTES ON FRAGMENT:
- This fragment is quoted only for punctuation.
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- italicization or not
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- Provided,
- NOTES ON BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- The punctuation is italicized.
- NARA SOURCE:
- Retypeset rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- Provided,
- NOTES ON NARA:
- The punctuation is not italicized; this was verified Jan. 2, 2003, by examination of the source code available via a browser command when viewing the Web site.
- Amdt. XX, § 3, fr. 1
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- word choice
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- If the President
- NARA SOURCE:
- Retypeset rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- If a President
- Amdt. XXIII, § 1, cl. 2, fr. 1
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- case
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- states
- NARA SOURCE:
- Retypeset rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- States
- Amdt. XXIII, § 1, cl. 2, fr. 2
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- case
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- by a state
- NARA SOURCE:
- Retypeset rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- by a State
- Amdt. XXIV, § 1, fr. 2
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- word choice
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- any poll
- NARA SOURCE:
- Retypeset rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- poll
- Amdt. XXV, § 1, fr. 3
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- word choice
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- the case
- NARA SOURCE:
- Retypeset rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- case
- Amdt. XXVII, fr. 2
- TYPE OF ERROR:
- case
- TEXT OF BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY RENDITION:
- Law
- NARA SOURCE:
- High Resolution rendition.
- TEXT PER NARA:
- law
—————
URL: http://www.GeoCities.com/Nick_Levinson/law/const_proofrdg/Appx_13.htm
Article URL: http://www.GeoCities.com/Nick_Levinson/law/const_proofrdg/article.htm
Appendix first publicly posted to the World Wide Web July 24, 2004; revised (to add links) and posted August 17, 2004.
Minor revisions: Copyright © 2004 Nick Levinson
Balance: Copyright © 2003 Nick Levinson
All rights reserved.