Guide to Editorial Notation

Most of this book has been transcribed from unrevised manuscripts. The text published here is as far as possible a verbatim transcript. Problems encountered in reproducing the manuscripts are indicated by means of the notation shown below.

Notation	Textual Problem
[......]	Word(s) lost through damage to the manuscript.
[ . . . ]	Illegible word(s), one group of three spaced dots for each presumed word.
[ ]1	Superfluous word(s), often duplicating what immediately precedes; a footnote shows the word(s) as they occur in the manuscript.
[? ]	Word(s) omitted by the author that could not be supplied by the editors.
[word]	Word(s) omitted by the author or lost through damage to the manuscript that are required by grammar or sense, and that could be supplied by the editors.
[?word]	Doubtful reading.
[word]1	Emendation required by grammar or sense; a footnote gives the manuscript reading.
w. [word]	Abbreviation expanded by the editors.
w[o]rd	Letter(s) supplied by the editors.
word[,]	Punctuation supplied by the editors.
[note]	Textual situation requiring brief explanation. Longer explanations are provided in editorial footnotes, which are printed in italics followed by “ Ed.” (Sri Aurobindo’s footnotes are printed in roman type.)