Champollion

The method behind Mouseia’s house editions is open source as Champollion.

Two ways to read the same work

Musean: Modern literary language that preserves the source’s imagery, symbolism, cadence, and form.
Plain English: Everyday contemporary language and direct syntax, with the same complete content. It is a separate translation from the original, not a simplified Musean edition or a summary.

From source to edition

Preserve the source. Store the complete original-language witness, pin its revision and hash, and record the work’s and transcription’s rights separately. Keep the raw snapshot and document how the reading text is cleaned.
Divide it into units. Give each passage a stable heading. Preserve the source’s numbering, lines, stanzas, and other meaningful divisions; both house editions follow the same units in the same order.
Translate independently. Make each register directly from the original. Keep the tasks separate, without showing one translation’s output to the other, and disclose any aids or machine assistance.
Run mechanical checks. Compare headings, reference markers, and declared line counts; verify source hashes and required records. Apply the profile’s language and hygiene checks, and report possible omissions or copied passages for review.
Review the judgement. Compare each unit’s opening and ending with the source, check sense, terms, names, and numbers, and read passages aloud. Record who reviewed which text, their findings, and the resolutions. A mechanical pass does not establish meaning.
Keep the provenance. Retain source evidence, translator credits, edition notes, and check and review records beside the work, outside its reading text. Resolve blocking findings before publication so the decisions remain inspectable.

Use the method in your own project

Contributors can use Champollion for any language pair. A profile names the source and target languages, defines the required registers, and selects the appropriate checks. Mouseia’s Musean and Plain English editions are one profile; another project can define its own literary and plain registers without adopting English-specific rules.

The checker reads local evidence, works offline, and leaves work documents unchanged. Start with the adoption guide, then use the authoring guide to prepare a work and its records.

Code is MIT-licensed; the specification and documentation are CC BY 4.0. Source texts retain their own rights.