CICADA 237
THE THIRD EDITION
The silence was not empty.
Two editions. Seven omissions. One reconstruction.
The manuscript survives in two forms. They disagree in places where neither appears to be damaged. The catalog describes a third edition. No complete copy has been recovered.
Begin with the discrepancy
An original engraving
A Typographical Correction
Open UnderprintALPHA · RETAINED WITNESS
Hollow chambers preserve an echo.
BETA · CURRENT WITNESS
Empty chambers preserve an echo.
The catalog calls these changes typographical. Both copies have been retained.
Editorial concordance
Seven lines were retained at the front of both copies. Their numbering belongs to the plate, even when the text wraps.
Archives, cell 1 preserved, cell 2 their, cell 3 imperfect, cell 4 witnesses, cell 5 against, cell 6 erasure, cell 7
A, cell 1 record, cell 2 so, cell 3 amended, cell 4 conceals, cell 5 its, cell 6 labor, cell 7
No, cell 1 editor, cell 2 restored, cell 3 what, cell 4 their, cell 5 predecessors, cell 6 could, cell 7
Once, cell 1 we, cell 2 compared, cell 3 them, cell 4 silence, cell 5 became, cell 6 legible, cell 7
Those, cell 1 who, cell 2 return, cell 3 inherit, cell 4 no, cell 5 perfect, cell 6 witness, cell 7
Our, cell 1 copies, cell 2 survived, cell 3 by, cell 4 preserving, cell 5 their, cell 6 disagreement, cell 7
What, cell 1 you, cell 2 recover, cell 3 remains, cell 4 available, cell 5 for, cell 6 others, cell 7
A reading of the carrier
Recover the six instruments, or enter a reading you already know. Nothing requires six completion marks.
No reading has been applied. The original lines remain above.
Consult a marginal note
Apply the tools to the seven carrier lines already on the opening page.
Read a more direct note
Choose a column by physical row first, then arrange the chosen words in your correspondence order.