About the Edition
This project consists of two related parts: the project Web site, which you are now viewing, contains ancillary materials that document the project or provide alternative access to some materials, such as images of the manuscript pages, that are also incorporated into the edition proper; the textual edition, accessible via the "Link to the Journal" above, contains an editorial introduction and several alternate views of the text of Cox's journal.
The current version is a preview release of the edition. 100% of the manuscript has been transcribed, encoded, and annotated to date. Currently, the editorial team is proofing, fact-checking, and editing for consistency.
The Editorial Team. Working in cooperation with the Rare Books and Manuscripts Library at The Ohio State University, and in collaboration with Professor H. Lewis Ulman, principal editor, a team of graduate and undergraduate students began editing Cox's journal during two courses offered in the winter and spring of 2007.
Project Guidelines and Standards. The P4 Version of the Text Encoding Initiative Guidelines (TEI P4) informed the project's markup guidelines. The editorial team also consulted the Modern Language Association's Committee on Scholarly Edition Guidelines as well as recommendations by various essays included in Electronic Textual Editing (MLA 2007). More detailed information about editorial methods can be found in the Editorial Introduction to the text of the Cox edition.
Navigating the Edition. Each page of this Web site contains
an identical navigation bar at the top of the screen. The "Link
to the Journal" in that navigation bar leads to the textual edition
proper. Within each view of the journal, a link at the top of the page labeled "Home" leads
back to this page; other links lead to other views of the journal.
Samuel
Sullivan Cox (1824–1889) served as a Democratic congressman in the
United States House of Representative from 1856 until his death, save for
a few short interruptions, first representing his native Ohio (he was born
in Zanesville) and then, from 1868 onward, his adopted state of New York.
As a public servant, he is most remembered, even revered, for strengthening
the Life-Saving Service (a precursor to the Coast Guard) and improving the
working conditions of mail carriers. As a Democratic politician, his legacy
is marred by his oft-assumed role as spokesperson for his party's resistance
to abolition and emancipation during the years leading up to the Civil War.
As an author, Cox published articles and books throughout his life on political
and popular subjects, including six travel books. 
