Wittgenstein Source Prototractatus Tools (PTT) gives access to new transcriptions of Wittgenstein Nachlass items Ms-104, containing the so-called "Prototractatus", and Ts-202 (in preparation), the first typescript of the Tractatus. The transcriptions were produced by Martin Pilch (Vienna) with the aim of providing the best possible textual basis for facilitating the reconstruction of the composition process of the Tractatus text. PTT utilizes a multiplicity of representation formats and colour schemes in order to make various aspects of the Tractatus text genesis visible.
PTT shall be regarded a research tool rather than an edition in the classical sense. It conceives of itself as complementary to the existing text editions, like the Bergen Nachlass Edition (BNE), the OUP Bergen Electronic Edition (2000) or B. McGuinness and J. Schulte's Critical Edition of the Tractatus and Prototractatus (1989). PTT should be used in close connection with the forthcoming facsimiles of items Ms-104 and Ts-202 in BNE.
PTT contains, in addition to an introduction, a presentation of edition plans and an overview of the site's overall structure (all in German), currently the following sub-parts:
Ms-104 diplomatic representation / Ms-104 diplomatische Darstellung (A1)
This document provides an independent new transcription of the entire Ms-104 volume. The transcription is based on the author's use of the facsimile images of Ms-104 from the Bergen Electronic Edition (2000) as well as close inspection of the original manuscript in the Bodleian Library in Oxford in October 2014. The result is presented as a so-called "diplomatic representation". Colours are used to highlight overwritten text and erasures. In some parts for the first time two (or more) layers of corrections could be made visible.
Ms-104 linearized representation / Ms-104 linearisierte Darstellung (A2)
As an intermediate step, the diplomatic representation is transformed into a "linearized representation" using the line numbering system of Andreas Geschkowski's Entstehung von Wittgensteins Prototractatus (Bern 2001).
Ms-104 colour-coded representation / Ms-104 farbcodierte Darstellung (A3)
This is the main document of the first tranche. Starting from the linearized representation (A2), Ms-104 was divided into "working phases", as they are discussed in the secondary literature. The different working phases were assigned different colours in the text. In a second step, all textual parallels from the wartime notebooks (MSS 101-103), the Notes on Logic (October 1913), the Notes dictated to Moore (April 1914) and some letters were integrated. The notebook texts had equally been newly transcribed by the author in the same way as Ms-104. For the Notes on Logic, Michael Potter's 2009 edition with its important differentiation between "Birmingham notes" and "Cambridge notes" was used as reference-system.
Prototractatus (Ms-104) ordered representation / Prototractatus (Ms-104) geordnete Darstellung (A4)
This item shows the Prototractatus in revised order following the Prototractatus numbering system. The colours taken over from A3 make immediately visible to which original working phase each of Wittgenstein's remarks belongs.
Ms-104 regularized representation / Ms-104 konsolidierte Darstellung (A5)
This item is a derivative of A2. It contains the final stage with all corrections that Wittgenstein accepted.
Ms-104 normalized representation / Ms-104 normalisierte Darstellung (A6)
This representation is based on A5 and offers a normalized text. Normalization includes addition of commas where missing.
All documents are best viewed on a sufficiently large screen in full screen mode. They are all in PDF format in order to keep the technical difficulties at a low level. The text has been proofread several times to minimize transcription errors. A detailed comparison with the transcriptions of the Bergen Electronic Edition and the Critical Edition has been performed. Differences in readings have again been checked against the original Nachlass documents in Oxford.
The transcription and adaption work for items A1-A6 ("Tranche 1") was carried out in 2012–2015. Work on the next tranches has begun. They shall include representations of the Ts-202 complex as well as comparisons between the Tractatus and the Prototractatus in both directions (PTT_D-series). Other additions that are planned include representations of intermediate stages of the Prototractatus (such as "core-Prototractatus" up to page 28 or "proto-Prototractatus" up to page 70/71 etc.) with reconstructed original numbering (PTT_B-series) as well as representations according to the logical depth of the numbering (PTT_C-series).
Please note that the intellectual rights in the texts of the Wittgenstein Nachlass, including Ms-104 and Ts-202, are with Trinity College, Cambridge. PTT is published with the kind permission of The Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge (2015).
How to get to the PDF files: EDITIONS > Prototractatus Tools (PTT) > m > link