University of Virginia Library

C. THE McLEOD PORTABLE COLLATOR

About 1983, Randall McLeod (a.k.a. Random Cloud, Random Clod, Randalino, Sir Greg Walters, etc.) began developing the device now known as the McLeod Portable Collator (Belanger) or the "McPortable Collator" (McLeod, E-mail to the author, 5 Feb. 2002) [plate 3]. Like the Lindstrand, this collator is based on stereoscopy. However, McLeod "has eliminated one of the symmetrical optical trains typical of stereo instruments: thus one eye looks directly at the farther book, and the other looks through two mirrors at the closer. Because the books are displayed in different depths, one can slide the more remote one part-way behind the front one on a two-tiered reading stand, so that just the two pages being compared appear adjacent directly in front of the viewer and, because of the reduction of size of the front image, as it passes through the mirror train, they appear at the same angular height and width, and they are readily accessible there for comparison and manipulation" (E-mail to the author, 5 Feb. 2002). Variants between the two books can display themselves "by one or more of four effects: 1) variantly spaced parts of otherwise identical settings of type appear in relative depth (that is, in 3D); 2) different settings in the same place (for example, `dog' in one copy and `cat' in the other) shimmer or alternate; 3)an image in one copy matched by blankness in the other appears `hollow' or insubstantial relative to the solid image formed by the combined stimulae of the invariant parts of the two copies; and 4) non-register of part of the superimposed image" (McLeod, The McLeod Portable Collator 2, and E-mail to the author, 9 Mar. 2002). As with the Lindstrand, the McLeod requires two good eyes on the part of the viewer.

The McLeod, unlike either of its predecessors, has the virtue of portability. In fact, it is the first collator really capable of being easily transported—when disassembled, the device weighs about thirty pounds and can fit in a carry-on bag. Randall McLeod has used it "in over a score of major university and research libraries in Great Britain, Canada and the United States" (The McLeod Portable Collator 5). His first customer was a Philosophy professor

at McGill University (Zalewski 15), about whom he relates an interesting anecdote: "I showed him how the collator worked, and offered to setup his own copy of Hume (which he was editing) with the University of Toronto's Fisher Library copy, but he was adamant that he do it himself, and proceeded to set up for a comparison of the titles pages. He struggled to get the adjustments right, but finally gave up and asked me to do it for him. Well, I realized right away that I couldn't get it adjusted right either:it was impossible to get everything aligned, since the two copies were different states of the same setting. So, in his first go he had hit the jackpot!" (E-mail to the author, 5 Feb. 2002).

Though adjustable, the collator has no parts that move in the performance of collation. It requires no lights or electricity and generates no noise. The price is around $2500 US, not including shipping. I am grateful to McLeod for generously contributing to the foregoing description and providing the location information given below.

LOUISIANA

• C1. Baton Rouge, private scholar

NEW YORK

• C2. New York Public Library

• C3. Pierpont Morgan Library

PENNSYLVANIA

• C4. Lafayette College, Skillman Library

• C5. Philadelphia, private scholar

AUSTRALIA

• C6. Monash University, Department of English

• C7. University of New South Wales, School of Language, Literature, and Communication

CANADA

• C8. New Brunswick, David Gants

• C9. Toronto, Randall McLeod

• C10. Victoria, British Columbia, David Fate Norton

  Originally purchased when Norton was on the faculty at McGill University.

• C11. University of Guelph, University Library, Department of Archives and Special Collections

ENGLAND

• C12. Cambridge University, University Library

• C13. University of London, School of English and Drama.

  Originally purchased by Graham Rees when he was on the faculty of the Department of English at the University of Wolverhampton.

ITALY

• C14. Universita di Udine, Dipartimento di Scienze Storiche e Documentaire

WALES

• C15. National Library of Wales