Apprivoiser: to call a scan a facsimile

I recently found myself writing about the various versions of Archibald MacLeish’s “Ars Poetica” and described the Poetry Foundation’s digital image scan of the June 1926 Poetry magazine pages as a “facsimile”. I realize that is technically inaccurate — page size being the main factor that distinguishes a digital image viewed on screen from a print facsimile edition held in the hand. Still part of me wanted strongly to use the word “facsimile” to apply to the digital image. I am wondering if this were not an attempt to apprivoiser (tame) in the vein of Le Petit Prince.

– Non, dit le petit prince. Je cherche des amis. Qu’est-ce que signifie “apprivoiser” ?

– C’est une chose trop oubliée, dit le renard. Ca signifie “créer des liens…”

Creating new links using old words.

And so for day 1439
21.11.2010

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