Wikisource talk:Proofread of the Month

Please help start a list of text that need to be proofread. Larger text are preferred because we hope to have a large group of people working on the text of the month. Here is a great place to start looking for text to be proofread.

List of suggested works not actioned [edit] Index:A Compendium of Irish Biography.djvu Index:Documents from the Den of Espionage.djvu Index:How and Why Library Index:Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Volume 1 (2nd edition).djvu Index:The Life of Thomas Linacre.djvu Index:The Methodist Hymn-Book Illustrated.djvu

Links [edit] Coding 'Now' snapshot of PotM Wikisource:Proofread of the Month/validation works Module:PotM/data

• Index:Sims Correspondence 1848.djvu [19 pages]
• Index:State vs. National Control of Public Forests.pdf [8 pages]

Have problematic pages

Translations, not eligible for simple listing

• The Translation of Deformable Electrons and the Theorem of Conservation of Angular Momentum 2p
• On v. Ignatowsky's Treatment of Born's Definition of Rigidity II 2pp
• Index:EhrenfestStarr2.djvu 3 pp
• Index:LorentzRelatieveBeweging.djvu 6pp.
• Index:MinkowskiRaumZeit 14pp.

New works of less than 30 pages to be added to QUEUED

*

it:Wikisource:Rilettura del mese/Testi brevi

• Little works page
• Wikisource:Proofread of the Month/validation works

On the transcription project, there is a good list of text that are ready to be proofread. That list is available here. This list continues to grow so it would be great if we could knock it down. --Mattwj2002 11:03, 5 August 2008 (UTC)Reply

My person opinion, If people keep bringing in projects (and I have seen it) then they should do a good part of the editing. Some, whoever they are, bring in works for others to do and the work-load adds up. Too, if the texts are brought in and left for others, then others may not like the topic so the work load keeps building up. It would be nice to know [who] likes what to work on. *I* like history and specifically illustrated history* but not children’s books or poems. I have several more volumes to do and more I want to do after that. This way I work on what I brought in, or have another bring in because he/they like the same kind of work. --Maury (talk) 01:33, 1 December 2016 (UTC)Reply

Keep in mind works that will enter PD on 1 January 2026, but do not upload files for such works until 1 January 2026. --EncycloPetey (talk) 22:15, 24 September 2025 (UTC)Reply

Month	Work	Category	Status	Contributors
January	Index:The Wines of the World (1875).djvu	Quirky	Lapsed (started 01-01)	50
February	Index:Modern Tendencies in Sculpture.djvu	Fine arts	Active (started 02-01)
March		Wikipedia:WikiWomen's History Month / Woman author
April		Poetry / Drama
May		Geography
June		Fiction: Novel
July		Anthropology, Mythology, or Religion
August		Biography
September		Science/Technology
October		Fiction (SF/Fantastical/etc.)
November		Language
December		Fiction: Short story collections

Perhaps: The Wines of the World (1875) (transcription project) If this is not selected for PotM, I will add it to the January MC. --EncycloPetey (talk) 23:35, 17 December 2025 (UTC)Reply

(Y on since Jan 1. — Alien  3
3 3 17:38, 3 January 2026 (UTC))Reply

Note the nominations for museum catalogs below for this month. MarkLSteadman (talk) 15:58, 4 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

I've gone through the suggested list of catalogues. They've all got various problems that don't make them suitable for PotM. A couple of them are liberally sprinkled with long-s, others have sidenotes or a lot of image work is required. They're ideal for a wikiproject or a solo project. A couple of them may be suitable in the Monthly Challenge (Chinese Frescoes and the Central American collection). Beeswaxcandle (talk) 06:41, 5 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

We don't have any volumes of Vasari Index:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 1.djvu, Wincklemann (History of Ancient Art (external scan)) or Burckhardt The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy proofread. All three are classics in Art History. 15:55, 4 January 2026 (UTC)

•  Comment All three of these are multi-volume works, which makes them less suitable for PotM. The Wincklemann may be considered a classic, but its very general and has only a few line sketches as illustrations, which diminishes its value as a resource. --EncycloPetey (talk) 20:28, 9 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

If none of the above suggested works are suitable, I suggest Modern tendencies in sculpture (Commons file) by Lorado Taft. DraconicDark (talk) 20:48, 27 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

Y Put on, though someone needs to deal with the ~136 pages of images. (index). — Alien  3
3 3 18:15, 1 February 2026 (UTC)Reply

From the works entering public domain in 2026:

• Agatha Christie, The Murder at the Vicarage (the first novel featuring Miss Marple) in Monthly Challenge
• Carolyn Keene (pseudonym for Mildred Benson), the first four Nancy Drew books, beginning with The Secret of the Old Clock - the first is in the Monthly Challenge
• Edna Ferber, Cimarron PDF from IA: (start transcription); DjVu with duplicate pages: (transcription project)

I scanned this last year; the copyright page proclaims itself to be a "First edition", which I am dubious of since my childhood training from Encyclopedia Brown and the Mystery of the First Battle of Bull Run (or some such) in which the ax was bogus due to " the first" never being written because of not knowing there will be a second.

There is a PDF available also, it has little illustrations that someone has already made transparent for at the commons. Whichever version you want....--RaboKarbakian (talk) 17:02, 3 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

Since the DjVu has duplicate pages, and its source isn't specified, the PDF would be preferred. --EncycloPetey (talk) 13:19, 4 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

The DjVu has been fixed. The source is a library, as stated. EncycloPetey Would you like me to repair the current POM with its "insert" pages? --RaboKarbakian (talk) 11:43, 8 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

Repairing the current file is trickier, as it is an active Main page project, and there are proofread pages that would need to be moved by an administrator and the file is fixed. If there is an admin willing to help with that in tandem with your fix, so that the page moves happen quickly, then perhaps so. But the difference here is that the inserts are not superfluous pages, but scans of material the library set in those locations. --EncycloPetey (talk) 12:42, 8 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

• Dorothy L. Sayers, Strong Poison
  

-- Beardo (talk) 03:09, 18 December 2025 (UTC)Reply

 Comment The Murder at the Vicarage and The Secret of the Old Clock are both loaded into the Monthly Challenge for January. --EncycloPetey (talk) 17:21, 3 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

Can I suggest Index:The Life and Letters of Emily Dickinson (1924).pdf—it probably wouldn't take too long to complete, and would fill a significant gap in our Dickinson collection —Beleg Tâl (talk) 14:14, 18 February 2026 (UTC)Reply

Suggest: "The Quaker Poets of Great Britain and Ireland" (1896), by Evelyn May Noble Armitage (UK 1853–??) If she lived to be 100, her works would still be PD-70. --EncycloPetey (talk) 22:26, 24 September 2025 (UTC)Reply

Other possibilities:

• Collected Poems (1930) by Robert Frost earned the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1931, and enters public domain in 2026. active in the Jan-March M.C.
• Alison's House (external scan) (1930) by Susan Glaspell earned the Pulitzer Prize for drama, and likewise enters public domain in 2026.

--EncycloPetey (talk) 21:54, 3 October 2025 (UTC)Reply

Can I suggest Kowhai Gold (edited by w:Quentin Pope)? Its a landmark NZ poetry collection, published in 1930, so will be freshly in the US public domain. However, it is still copyright in Aotearoa as several of the contributors didn't die untilt he 1980's (and one until 2006!), so kiwi editors will be unable to work on it.--IdiotSavant (talk) 21:41, 17 October 2025 (UTC)Reply

Alternatively, if we're doing multiple short works, can we add Index:From a Garden in the Antipodes.pdf to the pile? The author is "one of the first distinctively New Zealand poets", so her first work seems significant. IdiotSavant (talk) 02:02, 12 December 2025 (UTC)Reply

 Comment The Index for From a Garden in the Antipodes has already been fully validated. --EncycloPetey (talk) 19:47, 4 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

Yeah, a few people were bored on New Year's Eve. How about Author:Dora Wilcox's Index:Rata and mistletoe (IA ratamistletoe00wilc).pdf instead? (we did her Verses from Maoriland last year). IdiotSavant (talk) 22:26, 4 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

For MC we're more flexible, but for the PotM, we typically avoid works that have regional copyright concerns. --EncycloPetey (talk) 19:48, 4 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

Adding Index:Asphodel (IA asphodel00serr).pdf by Author:Mary Jane Serrano as a possibility, perhaps as an overflow work since it's quite short (~70 pages). Am willing to support Quaker Poets as the main work. Arcorann (talk) 01:46, 25 October 2025 (UTC)Reply

Can I suggest Tutira: The Story of a New Zealand Sheep Station by Author:William Herbert Guthrie-Smith (Index:Tutira-Guthrie-Smith (1921).pdf). It's Aotearoa's first significant environmentalist publication, and a local classic of environmental writing.--IdiotSavant (talk) 05:55, 16 October 2025 (UTC)Reply

There are a lot of images throughout the book, so it may be too much for a PotM. However, we have managed such in the past with strong guidelines on the Index Talk: page on how to include them. If this work is chosen, then the images should all be extracted, cleaned up and uploaded into a Commons category with consistent names (e.g. "Tutira page 23.jpg"), so that they can be included easily by editors who are not familiar with image work. Tutira has been on my to-do list for several years, but other things have taken priority. Beeswaxcandle (talk) 07:06, 16 October 2025 (UTC)Reply

Images are beyond my capabilities ATM. But it may also be a good option for the monthly challenge sometime. IdiotSavant (talk) 19:54, 16 October 2025 (UTC)Reply

The images in this volume have color components, which makes them trickier to process. Making quality images from the raw files is beyond what my limited resources can handle. If some talented with images at Commons is willing and able to process the images in advance, then this could be a good selection. --EncycloPetey (talk) 22:23, 16 October 2025 (UTC)Reply

User:Giantflightlessbirds has indicated to me that they're happy to sort the images for this. Beeswaxcandle (talk) 17:49, 1 December 2025 (UTC)Reply

Yes, happy to do this. The illustrator was Beatrix Dobie, who died in 1944, so her work was out of copyright in NZ in 1996. I can find an original edition of the work and rescan or re-photograph the images. Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 20:42, 2 December 2025 (UTC)Reply

One possibility is proofing the Joly version of the Dream of the Red Chamber, (external scan), the influential Chinese novel. Another possibility is the Korean Novel The Cloud Dream of the Nine, (external scan). Gale died in 1937 so it is PD in the UK as well. MarkLSteadman (talk) 19:02, 4 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

 Comment The Joly translation is only a partial one (of the first 56 chapters), and not a complete translation. --EncycloPetey (talk) 19:44, 4 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

For July, I suggest Zoroastrian theology from the earliest times to the present day (Commons file). I suggested this one back in 2023 but it wasn't selected then since that was the year the PoTM went several months without a new selection; thus, it should be run if it's suitable. DraconicDark (talk) 21:12, 27 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

For August, I suggest Sir Francis Bacon by Parker Woodward (Commons file). DraconicDark (talk) 19:48, 29 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

As a start, I will repeat a couple from before:

• The conquest of the moon : a story of the Bayouda - https://archive.org/details/McGillLibrary-hssl_conquest-moon-bayouda_PQ2269G7C61894-18172/page/n5/mode/2up - original title Les Exilés de la Terre – Selene-Company Limited (1887) by Author:Jean François Paschal Grousset
• Richard Jefferies' After London. there are two copies in Commons - c:File:After_London;_or,_Wild_England_(IA_afterlondonorwil00jeff).pdf and c:File:After_London;_or,_Wild_England_(IA_afterlondonorwil00jeffiala).pdf.
  

Then, newly PD:

• Last and First Men, by William Olaf Stapledon
• The Twilight of Magic by Hugh Lofting
• The Castle by Franz Kafka, translated by Willa Muir and Edwin Muir
  

-- Beardo (talk) 02:27, 2 December 2025 (UTC)Reply

All of these sound good, though some of the 1930 works also sound like good candidates for the monthly challenge. IdiotSavant (talk) 02:04, 12 December 2025 (UTC)Reply

We're having problems at LibriVox finding PD scans of Last and First Men, but that may well be resolved by the time we reach October. Beeswaxcandle (talk) 06:43, 5 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

One idea would be to spend a month doing old Museum Catalogues; most museums printed them listing the artifacts in their possession - and like a specific bell made of melted moments of regional history I've been tracing - it'd be phenomenal to see proofreaders find long-forgotten references to "omg, Museum X used to hold an original XYZ, wonder what happened to it?!" and can start the museum and others tracking the long-forgotten artifact to see where it sits these days collecting dust in a box somewhere. Fundy Isles Historian - J (talk) 02:19, 28 August 2025 (UTC)Reply

This concept would fit into January's quirky month. As proposer, you will need to find some scans of catalogues from a range of museums around the world (so that's not monocultural) and then propose them as a group for January 2026. Beeswaxcandle (talk) 07:31, 28 August 2025 (UTC)Reply

For sure, at a glance I can see Synopsis of the contents of Gesner's Museum of Natural History at Saint John, Maritime Canada (Museum no longer exists, the work that gave me this idea), British Museum 1 and two, Catalogue of ship models and marine engineering in the South Kensington Museum, THE SIMMS COLLECTION OF PLAINS CREE MATERIAL CULTURE FROM SOUTHEASTERN SASKATCHEWAN, Museum of the American Indian: Guide to the Third Floor, Central America (800,000 objects, collapsed in 1989 and subsumed into Smithsonian Project - again glancing at publication amazing collectino of near-Mayan near-Toltecc cultures never even heard of), , Chinese frescoes from the Royal Ontario Museum, Catalogue of Egyptian scarabs, etc., in the British museum,