This edition of the Dialogue of Comfort has been transcribed from
the 1557 version as it appears in Everyman's Library. The Everyman
edition is heartily recommended to readers who would like to taste
the dialogue in its original form.
The first plan was to change only the spelling. It soon became
evident that the punctuation would have to be changed to follow
present usage. The longest sentences were then broken up into two
or three, and certain others were rearranged into a word order
more like that of today. Nothing was omitted, however, and nothing
was added except relative pronouns, parts of "to be," and other
such neutral connectives. Finally, obsolete words were changed to
more familiar equivalents except when they were entirely clear and
too good to lose. Thus "wot" became "know" but "gigglot" and "galp
up the ghost" were retained. Words that have come to have a quite
different meaning for us, such as "fond" and "lust" were replaced
by less ambiguous ones--wherever possible, by ones that More
himself used elsewhere.
The text has not been cut or expanded, re-interpreted or edited.
Any transcription seems to involve some interpretation, conscious
or otherwise, but an effort has been made to keep it to a minimum.
Passages that seemed to make no sense have therefore been left
unaltered. If other readers find solutions for them their
suggestions will be welcomed.
This is not in any sense a scholarly piece of work. That would
require a very different method, as well as a far more thorough
knowledge of sixteenth-century English. It would be a most
commendable undertaking, but it might result in an edition for the
learned. This one is for everyone who has the two essentials,
faith and intelligence, presupposed by Anthony in Chapter II.