Mailbox: Peter Metcalfe
October 2000 – present

Peter Metcalfe

From: Peter Metcalfe
pmetcalfeATmitsuibabcock.com
Glasgow, Scotland
Mon, 02 Oct 2000

I should be anxious not to repeat scan and proof FER's letters etc. Could you send R01 Letters of FER, R03 The Testimony of the Christ.

Regards, Peter.

To: Peter Metcalfe
Mon, 02 Oct 2000

Dear Peter
Your remark "I should be anxious not to repeat scan and proof FER's letters etc." is interesting, as there is the possibility of KBT producing a CD-ROM. Am I right to assume you have FER's printed ministry? Would you be interested in helping in the work of a CD-ROM?

Yours in the Lord, Gordon.

From: Peter Metcalfe
Mon, 02 Oct 2000

Hi Gordon,
I had only a couple of minutes on your site – and I didn't read very much as a result – its a matter of in, get info, then out … so I may have these articles.

Yes, I've all the new series of JBS, FER JT Snr etc, the Darby disc and a scanner system.

• All 12 volumes of JBS (NS and Index) are scanned but only 3 proofed – you may have the first pdf file from Nigel Herbert …

• I probably have some of FER scanned – vols 2 and 19 I think – but not proofed. ~150 gospel and believers tracts are also in word format – particularly the old ones.

Regards, Peter.

To: Peter Metcalfe
Mon, 02 Oct 2000

Dear Peter,
Thanks for the info on your scanning work, which I may comment on later.

I'm attaching the zip files you requested: R01 Letters of FER, R03 The Testimony of the Christ.

Yours in the Lord, Gordon.

From: Peter Metcalfe
Tue, 03 Oct 2000

Dear Gordon,
Many thanks for the zip files, I recognised the article 'The Testimony of the Christ' extract from email to Nigel …

… am in the process of proof reading volume 4 – and enjoying it. This is necessary because the punctuation and several words are mis-translated by the Textbridge Pro software, especially the numbers.

• Scanning each volume takes about 5 hours labour with about 22 hours estimated to proof each and correct. I do not yet have full capability to convert all to pdf format – this awaits Acrobat.

• If JT was to be scanned and proofed by this method I estimate more than a year's full time labour – I recall JND was three years full time work.

Yours in Him, Peter.

To: Peter Metcalfe
Tue, 24 Oct 2000

Dear Peter,
Sorry, I haven't acknowledged long before this.

Malcolm Withell, KBT manager, was going to contact you regarding the possibility of co-operation in scanning for CD-ROM's. I'd be interested to hear of any happenings.

I took the liberty of forwarding the JBS 1 PDF to Sam Peter in Saudi Arabia – see the Mailbox. Possibly I should have asked you first!

• As you produce further PDF's I would be glad to receive a copy, if you are free. They would be for my personal use and, if you agree, for others who would make good use of them.

• May the Lord help you in this demanding work. Glad you enjoy it.

• I note your estimates on JT. Is this a possibility in the future?

Yours in our Lord Jesus, Gordon.

From: Peter Metcalfe
Wed, 1 Nov 2000

Dear Gordon,
Malcolm has indeed been in touch – quite an extensive email – but it seems JBS is pretty well covered, so it will be FER which will be of interest.

• The scanning of this has lapsed somewhat but will communicate in due course when picked up again.

• I expect to continue to be in touch with Malcolm, it seems like not much else is already scanned, so there are many lesser known ministries which could be processed.
  • (The Darby disc I believe took three years continuous labour – but it is not in free text format.)

• I have a few papers, e.g. "Synopsis of Church History", "The Moral Glory of the Lord Jesus Christ", "The Christian's Path in Days of Difficulty" etc.

I have no difficulty in you forwarding JBS V1 etc. More to follow when pdf files are created.

We have had contact from St Petersburg … but a limited English knowledge limits the usefulness of ministry without translation.

• Speaking in tongues is one thing, reading in tongues another :-)

JT is a possibility, but some months away yet – the conversational development of truth in his day is much more voluminous – and integrating the supporting addresses may be of value.

Affectionately in Him, Peter.

To: Peter Metcalfe
Wed, 1 Nov 2000

Dear Peter,
Thanks for your informative reply. I'm very glad that you will be co-operating with Malcolm.

• What I now say is not to discourage that at all, as I encouraged you and him to co-operate!

• But you may not be aware that the trustees do not approve of ministry being posted – and I assume being available – on the internet.

• This would – I again assume – likely apply to material on any CD-ROM's they produce.

• This is their matter although I, obviously, do not share – or even understand – their viewpoint.

In view of all this I would encourage you to retain your work on ascii zip files or PDF files.

• These could be of particular value for persons like Sam Peter who are in countries with religious and/or political restrictions on importation of printed ministry.

• We all – of our background – hold that the ministry is for all believers. That being so, I would not like to see any restrictions imposed on its circulation, or on its selective use on 'My Brethren'.

Hearing of the trustees' disapproval I have temporarily withdrawn the offer of FER zip files.

• I expect to reinstate the offer with smaller samples to whet the appetite for the printed ministry, rather than appear to compete with it – something I cannot do, and have never had any intention of attempting.

• In view of this any scanning you do might do, of FER or others, would be useful – if you agree – to build up a list of sample files.

You mention having a few other items which you might scan. I have had an offer of a number of old books which I would dearly like to have personally and for MB. See Mailbox: Iain Gibb.

• However, I would – reluctantly :-( – make them available for scanning by yourself if you desired to take on such a project.

• I recognize that with what you are, or may be, committed to such a suggestion may be too onerous.

• I have often thought of obtaining a scanner myself for such work, but the other demands of MB take almost all my time and energy, the last in very short supply as I reach my 71st birthday this November 11.

I'm glad you heard from St. Petersburg, and appreciate the problem. I have just received another email from Mikhail, which I agreed to edit for posting. But I'm having difficulty being sure of his meaning. I've tried Alta Vista's translation service but just get a series of ?????????????

I mentioned you to Andrew Robertson originally from Glasgow in the late '40's but a frequent visitor. He cannot recall your family, and would appreciate any details you may be free to share – again when you have time.

This has grown rather long unintentionally. I'll be glad to hear from you any time – that you have time – and also to receive further files.

Affectionately in our Lord Jesus, Gordon.

From: Peter Metcalfe
Tue, 7 Nov 2000

I'm proofing FER vol. 2 ... to interrupt the JBS ...

Affectionately in Him, Peter.

From: Peter Metcalfe
Thu, 4 Jan 2001

Many thanks Gordon for keeping in touch – I'll take a brief look at Neatby's History.

I'm now able to generate pdf files and the following volumes are complete:

• New Series JBS Volumes 1,2,3,4,5 and 6.
• New Series FER Volumes 2, 8, 19.
• Currently FER volume 13 is in progress.

I sent FER volume 2 to Malcolm Withell, and the response was along the lines of wanting to make these available in text format.

• I'm not sure how footnotes, and I believe one or two Greek notes in JBS could be handled in text format. For the moment, JBS is on hold.

Affectionately in Him, Peter.

To: Peter Metcalfe
Thu, 4 Jan 2001

Dear Peter,
Thanks for letting me know the status of your ministry scanning project. You are really make excellent progress! I wonder how you find the time and energy. I'm retired – and often just plain tired – so that I find MB takes all the time I can give it.

As you may recall, I already have JBS Vol. 1 from Nigel. If you are free, I would very much appreciate having the other volumes now finished for my personal 'My Brethren' library.

• Because of their size, I think only one volume could be sent at a time, at your convenience of course.

Regarding Malcolm wanting your work in text format – for putting on a CD-ROM, I suppose – I am not an expert, by any means, but there seem to be several ways to do it.

1. If you have your original work in a word processor format, it can usually be saved – under a different file name, of course – in ascii format which would lose most if not all formatting. Malcolm might have to do something to set off headings and paragraphs, etc.

2. The Help file of Acrobat 4 Reader has a section "Copying and pasting text and graphics to another application". It looks like the text of your pdf's could be easily copied into a plain text file. If so, Malcolm could do that.

Regarding footnotes, perhaps what I do on MB would be suitable.

1. Unless the note is excessively large I just enclose it in square brackets following the end of a sentence. E.g. [Note.]

2. If the note is very large I put it at the end and use a hyper link. But for CD-ROM purposes the large note could just be put in a separate paragraph in square brackets.

3. This would apply to notes in Greek as well, but to avoid the problem of a Greek font, the Greek words could be transliterated in English letters and in italics as in the footnotes of JND's bible.

Footnotes are fine in printed books and perhaps in pdf's, but in CD-ROM's which are somewhat similar to web documents (where they have actually to be endnotes) I believe they would be very inconvenient for the reader.

• Including them in the text in square brackets seems the simplest and most convenient way.

Another possibility is to contact Les Hodgett, publisher of the "Darby Disk", who might be able and willing to offer a solution.

I'll be interested to hear how you decide to handle the notes.

Affectionately in our Lord Jesus, Gordon.

From: Peter Metcalfe
Fri, 5 Jan 2001

Dear Gordon,
Many thanks for your comments on footnotes etc – I think I will leave these as small problems until the basic works are complete.

I also wonder where the time comes from – I guess other things drop – about an hour a day is probably sensible – a full time job and a full assembly week doesn't leave much 'spare' time – but I am not married -– and as I go on the ministry maintains my interest. I attach Vol 2 of JBS.

Affectionately in Him, Peter.

To: Peter Metcalfe
Sat, 06 Jan 2001

Dear Peter,
Thanks for JBS Vol. 2. Yes, I think you're right to leave the footnote problem to the end. No doubt you will get some thoughts on it as you proceed.

Affectionately in our Lord Jesus, Gordon.

To: Peter Metcalfe
Tue, 16 Jan 2001

Dear Peter,
The 4th try was eminently successful! JBS 3 looks good. Thanks for your patience. I'll be glad to receive further volumes as convenient and will be checking with my ISP at the end of the week to make sure my mailbox is being emptied properly.

Affectionately in our Lord Jesus, Gordon.

To: Peter Metcalfe
Thu, 18 Jan 2001

Dear Peter,
Thanks for JBS 4 and 5! You mention that you have to do "some minor edits to make to the format in all JBS".

• May I suggest that it would increase the value of your work if there was on the table of contents a reference to the new page number as well as the original.

• This would make locating articles simple as the search feature only seems to find the first reference to a word.

• If possible a hyper link from the table of contents to each article would be extremely useful. I don't know how it works but the Neatby PDF has such a feature.

These are not criticisms. Your work is extremely valuable and appreciated.

Affectionately in our Lord Jesus, Gordon.

From: Peter Metcalfe
Thu, 18 Jan 2001

Dear Gordon,
Thanks for your comments on format – points noted – I do not see these as being urgent, and almost certainly will not be available in a text format.

• However, I need the basic works in first. Perhaps you will keep these as a 'remote' backup!

• Glad that the email is working again. Att: JBS Volume 5 in pdf format.

Affecionately in Him, Peter.

From: Peter Metcalfe
Fri, 19 Jan 2001

Gordon,
JBS 6, last of the formatted set for now. I have fiddled with the 'hyperlinks' before, so it may be possible to set up the index with this feature. It would be useful for reference, I'll give it a try.

Affectionately in Him, Peter.

To: Peter Metcalfe
Tue, 23 Jan 2001

Dear Peter,
All 6 PDF's JBS have arrived safely. They are invaluable! Thank you very much.

• When others of JBS or FER are completed, and you find it convenient, I will be glad to receive them.

• May the Lord help and bless you in this work. You are in our prayers for needed strength and stamina to continue.

Affectionately in our Lord Jesus, Gordon.

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