der, with the experience of a printer behind him,
will change a logically expressed idea so as to make it conform to
grammatical rules, nor will he harass the author thereof with
suggestions looking to that end.

Critical readers of these Letters must ever bear in mind the fact that
Shirley was not writing for publication, and that the printer of this
edition had no desire to and did not alter Shirley's text to suit his
ideas of what was fitting and proper, further than to smooth or round
out in many instances rugged or careless construction. Punctuation,
hyphenization, capitalization, italicizing, spelling, required much,
and of course received much, attention.

In some instances where Shirley does not express her meaning clearly,
and reconstruction seemed necessary, no change was made. Singularly,
this was the case in the first sentence of the first letter.

I can easily imagine, dear M., the look of large wonder which
gleams from your astonished eyes when they fall upon the date of
this letter.

M. could be astonished but once, but the language used conveys the idea
of wonder arising each time the letter is read; then, again, it is the
place-name, and not the date, that is to cause wonder to gleam from
astonished eyes, as the context shows.

Where reconstruction was not needed to make the meaning clear, and this
could be done by the insertion of a word or phrase, or by some other
simple emendation, changes were generally made. The extract (post, p.
11) following is printed just as it appeared in the Pioneer.

As a frame to the graceful picture, on one side rose the Buttes,
that group of hills so piquant and saucy; and on the other tossing
to Heaven the everlasting whiteness of their snow wreathed
foreheads, stood, sublime in their very monotony, the glorious
Sierra Nevada.

Besides changes in capitalization and punctuation, the words, "the
summits of," are inserted before "the glorious Sierra." Compare Bret
Harte's lines,--

Above the pines the moon was slowly drifting,
The river sang below;
The dim Sierras, far beyond, uplifting
Their minarets of snow.

By the word "Sierras" the mountain-range called the Sierra Nevada is
not meant, but merely teeth-like summits thereof, which uplift their
snow-clad peaks, or "minarets." The Spanish word "sierra" means, in
English, a saw, and also a ridge of mountains and craggy rocks.
"Nevada" means here, in connection