Rebooting Electronic Literature: Documenting Pre-Web Born Digital Media

Photos of Judy Malloy's "its name was Penelope"


Judy Malloy's its name was Penelope was released in two different folio types. Like many of the works of electronic literature that Eastgate Systems, Inc. released in its early history, Malloy's was first packaged in a vinyl folio. Later, when it was clear that the vinyl was causing damage to the paper contents inside of the folio, the company discontinued its use of this material and re-released popular works like Malloy's in a cardboard folio. As noted in the introduction to this chapter, there are other versions of its name was Penelope, but the only one commercially published is Version 3.0. 

Folio, Vinyl, Front
The folio measures 6 4/16” x 9” and is made of a dark blue, heavy vinyl with light blue text and image. The center of the folio contains the author’s name, an image, and the title that covers half of the folio. The author’s name is centered, serif font, light blue, and is located at 6 5/16” bottom, 1 1/16” left to the spine, 1 15/16” top, and 1 1/16” right. The author’s name reads: “Judy Malloy”. The image uses negative space with the light blue ink to create a triangle sail on rippling water. The image is located at 3 15/16” bottom, 1 3/16” left to the spine, 3” top, and 1 2/16” right. The title is centered, serif font, light blue, separated into two lines, and located at 2 7/16” bottom, 14/16” left to the spine, 5 3/16” top, and 12/16” right. Line one reads: “its name was” and line two reads: “Penelope”.
 
Folio, Vinyl, Back
The folio measures 6 4/16” x 9” and is made of a dark blue, heavy vinyl with light blue text and image. The bottom of the folio contains a border, logo, and the publisher’s information that covers less than a fourth of the folio. The border is light blue and measures 3 ½” x 1/16”. The border is located at 2” bottom, 1 3/16” left, 6 13/16” top, and 1 4/16” right. The logo is underneath the border to the left. The logo is a light blue outlined image of a rounded stone doorway in a stoned wall and is located at 1 5/16” bottom, 1 4/16” left, 6 11/16” top, and 3 14/16” right. The publisher’s information is underneath the border to the right. The publisher’s information is aligned left, serif font, light blue, separated into fives lines, and is located at 1 1/16” bottom, 2 7/16” left, 6 15/16” top, and 1 4/16” right. Line one reads: “Eastgate Systems, Inc.”, line two reads: “CIVILIZED SOFTWARE”, line three reads: “PO BOX 1307”, line four reads: “Cambridge MA 02238”, and line five reads: “(617) 924-9044 (800) 562-1638”.

Folio Vinyl, Opened
Left Side: The folio is made of a dark blue vinyl and measures 6 4/16” x 9”. The inside folio page is a sleeve that stores the works and paper materials through a vertical opening.
Right Side: The folio is made of a dark blue vinyl and measures 6 4/16” x 9”.


Folio, Vinyl, Spine
The folio spine is made of a dark blue vinyl and measures 9” x 7/16”.
 
Booklet, Folio, Vinyl
The booklet front is made of white printing paper with black inked text and measures 5 ½” x 8 ½”. The top of the page contains the author’s name and reads: “Judy Malloy”. The publishing information is black and reads: “Volume 2, Number 4” and “Fall, 1996”.  The center of the page contains the title name in three separate lines. Line one reads: “its name”, line two reads: “was”, and line three reads: “Penelope”. The bottom of the page contains the table of contents.
 
The back of the booklet back is made of white printing paper and measures 5 ½” x 8 ½”. The page is blank.

The vinyl used in the first releases of many of Eastgate Systems, Inc. early hypertext caused the pages of the booklet to stick together and difficult to open without damaging the booklet. For that reason, we cannot open our copy of the booklet in the vinyl folio to photograph or describe.
 

Folio, Paper, Front
The folio measures 6” x 9” in size and is made of a white, heavy card stock with white and black text and blue lines printed in ink and an image of a boat. The top of the folio contains the title of the work and it covers one-fourth of the folio. The title is sans-serif font, black, and separated into two lines. Line one is left aligned and located at 7 11/16” bottom, 3/16” left, 1” top, and 2 14/16” right. Line two is left aligned and located at 6 7/16” bottom, 1” left, 1 9/16” top, and 8/16” right. Line one reads: “ITS NAME WAS” and line two reads: “PENELOPE”. The center of the folio is a boat. The boat is drawn with a black crayon with the name PENELOPE on the left side. The boat is on top of eleven blue lines that extend to the bottom of the folio and covers a little less than half of the folio. The horizontal blue lines start as a one-pixel line and end as 13/16” at the bottom. The blue lines are located at 4/16” bottom, 3/16” left, 5 11/16” top, and 3/16” right. The bottom of folio and inside the last blue line is the author’s name. The author’s name is centered, sans-serif font, white, and located at 6/16” bottom, 5/16 left, 8 1/16” top, and 5/16” right. The author’s name has a 1-pixel outline mainly on the bottom and left of the letters. 

Folio, Paper, Back
The folio measures 6” x 9” in size and is made of a white, heavy card stock with blue and black text. The top of the folio contains a quote that covers a little less than one-fourth of the folio. The top quote is centered, sans-serif font, black, separated into fives lines, and located at 7 12/16” bottom, 11/16” left, 3/16” top, and 12/16” right. Line one reads: “‘[Malloy is] one of the most fascination hypertext stylists….”, line two reads: “The experiment with randomization is bold and surprisingly”, line three reads: “effective. As a result, Penelope can be read through multiple”, line four reads: “times…each reading creating overlapping, but never match-”, and line five reads: “ing, impressions.’”  The quote’s author is right aligned, sans-serif font, black, and is located at 7 9/16” bottom, 3 1/16” left, 1 4/16” top, and 13/16” right. The quote’s author reads: “—Alvin Lu, The Bay Guardian”.
 
The center of the folio contains the title and an excerpt from the introduction between two borders. The space between the two borders is half the folio. The borders are bright blue and 2-pixels tall. The top blue border is located at 7 6/16” bottom, 11/16” left, 1 9/16” top, and 1 13/16” right. The bottom blue border is located at 3 1/16” bottom, 11/16” left, 5 14/16” top, and 1 13/16” right. The title is sans-serif font, blue, and separated into two lines. Line one is left aligned and located at 6 15/16” bottom, 11/16” left, 1 9/16” top, and 2 12/16” right. Line two is left aligned and located at 5 13/16” bottom, 1 /16” left, 2 3/16” top, and 13/16” right. Line one reads: “ITS NAME WAS” and line two reads: “PENELOPE”.
 
The excerpt is centered, sans-serif font, black, separated into thirteen lines, and located at 3 8/16” bottom, 2 1/16” left, 3 4/16” top, and 5/16” right. Line one reads: “’In this work of computer fiction, Judy Malloy has created something very akin to the”, line two reads: “me´lange of snapshots most of us have shut away somewhere in a cabinet or a back”, line three reads: “shelf…in this work, the reader finds the same sort of casual, almost meaningless—and”, line four reads: “thereby potentially most meaningful—images of people meandering in a park, of tightly”, line five reads: “knotted skate laces, plates of food, or toy sailboats on the beach. Indeed, the visual”, line six reads: “imagery is strikingly vivid, as clear and lucid as one might expect from a visual artist,”, line seven reads: “which Malloy is…The narrator, Anne Mitchell, is an artist, a photographer, who offers us”, line eight reads: “a tripartite montage of her life in random screens of text that glimpse and blink by like”, line nine reads: “the slide show at a party…We are drawn through a range of emotions, lulled by nostal-”, line ten reads: “gia, then titillated and shocked, or saddened and outraged. This is truly Story as we have”, line eleven reads: “always known it, but with the added experimental dimensions of mnemonic time-distor-”, line twelve reads: “tion….With simple randomizing screens of open-ended text, Judy Malloy has used this”, and line thirteen reads: “technology to recreate the complex way we remember who we are.’” The excerpt’s author is left aligned, sans-serif font, black, and located at 3 4/16” bottom, 3 3/16” left, 5 9/16” top, and 4/16” right. The excerpt’s author reads: “—Carolyn Guyer, from the Introduction”.
 
The bottom of the folio contains a second quote and the publisher’s information separated by a border covers over one-fourth of the folio. The second quote is centered, sans-serif font, black, separated into three lines, and is located at 2 5/16” bottom, 10/16” left, 6 1/16” top, and 13/16” right. Line one reads: “’Nicely evocative…the effect is remarkably close to the sub-”, line two reads: “jective quirkiness of memory, of past moments floating”, and line three reads: “unpredictable to the surface.’”. The second quote’s author is aligned left, sans-serif font, black, and located at 2 1/6” bottom, 1 15/16” left, 6 12/15” top, and 13/16” right. 
 
The 1-pixel border is centered, black, and located at 1 13/16” bottom, 3/16” left, 7 2/16” top, and 5/16” right. The computer requirements, publisher’s logo, publisher’s information, and barcode are underneath the 1-pixel border. The computer requirements are left aligned, black, sans-serif font, and located at 1 ½” bottom, 3/16” left, 7 4/16” top, and 10/16” right. The computer requirements read: “For Windows and Macintosh. Requires 1 MB RAM and a hard disk drive.” The publisher’s logo is a black outlined image of a rounded stone doorway in a stoned wall and is located at 4/16” bottom, 3/16” left, 7 10/16” top, and 4 1/2” right. The publisher’s information is left aligned, black, sans-serif font, and located at 6/16” bottom, 1 9/16” left, 7 10/16” top, and 2 9/16” right. The publisher’s information is separated into six lines. Line one reads: “Published by”, line two reads: “Eastgate Systems INc”, line three reads: “134 Main Street”, line four reads: “Watertown, MA 02172”, line five reads: “(800) 562-1638”, and line six reads: “(617) 924-9044”. The ISBN number is black, sans-serif font, and is located at 5/16” bottom, 3 7/16” left, 7 10/16” top, and 2 7/16” right. The ISBN reads: “ISBN 1-884511-12-0.” The barcode is located at 7/16” bottom, 3 13/16” left, 7 10/16” top, and 8/16” right.

Folio, Paper, Inside Opened, Left and Right
Left: The inside folio page is a sleeve that stores the works and paper materials through a vertical opening. The top of the page contains an advertisement for Eastgate Quarterly Review of Hypertext. The advertisement encourages the reader to subscribe to the Eastgate Quarterly Review of Hypertext for four issues priced at $49.95. The bottom of the page contains the copyright information, trademarks, Eastgate Systems, Inc. logo, and Eastgate Systems, Inc. contact information.

Right: The inside folio page is a sleeve that stores the works and paper materials through a vertical opening. The top of the page contains a detailed explanation of what Storyspace is, how it is used, why it is good, and reviews from Robert Coover of New York Time Book Review, George Mitrevski of IALL Journal of Language Learning Technologies, and Prof. George Landow of Brown University. The bottom of the page contains the price for Storyspace and a ten pack of Storyspace. The Storyspace text explains that educational discounts are available for all Storyspace products.

Folio, Paper, Spine
The folio spine measures 9” x ¼” in size. The left text of the spine is black, sans-serif font, and reads: “ITS NAME WAS PENELOPE”. The center text of the spine is black, sans-serif font, and reads: “Judy Malloy”. The right text of the spine is black, serif font, and reads: “Eastgate Systems, Inc.”

Booklet, Paper, Front
The booklet back is made of white printing paper with light grey lines, black and white text, and measures 5 6/16” x 8 1/2”. The top of the folio contains the title of the work and it covers one-fourth of the folio. The title is sans-serif font, black, and separated into two lines. Line one is left aligned and located at 7 11/16” bottom, 4/16” left, 12/16” top, and 2 1/16” right. Line two is left aligned and located at 6 4/16” bottom, 1 2/16” left, 1 5/16” top, and 3/16” right. Line one reads: “ITS NAME WAS” and line two reads: “PENELOPE”. The center of the folio is a boat. The boat is drawn with a black crayon with the name PENELOPE on the left side. The boat is on top of eleven light grey lines that extend to the bottom of the folio and covers a little less than half of the folio. The horizontal light grey lines start as a one-pixel line and end as 13/16” at the bottom. The light grey lines are located at 4/16” bottom, 4/16” left, 5 3/16” top, and 2/16” right. The bottom of folio and inside the last grey line is the author’s name. The author’s name is centered, sans-serif font, white, and located at 1/2” bottom, 6/16 left, 7 9/16” top, and 4/16” right. The author’s name has a 1-pixel outline mainly on the bottom and left of the letters. 

Booklet, Paper, Back
The booklet back is made of white printing paper and measures 5 6/16” x 8 1/2”. The page is blank.

Floppy Disk, Macintosh, Front
The floppy disk is blue and measures 3 1/2” x 3 11/16”. The label on the front is white and red with red and white text, measures 2 12/16” x 2 2/16”, and wraps over the top of the disk. The top of the label contains the information on the publisher. The publishing information is white on a red background and separated into two lines. Line one reads: “CIVILZED SOFTWARE” and line two reads: “from Eastgate Systems, Inc.” The center of the label contains the information on the logo, author, and title. The logo is center-left and is a red outlined image of a rounded stone doorway in a stoned wall. The author’s name is center-right, red, and reads: “Judy Malloy”. The title is red, separated into two lines, and centered underneath the author’s name. Line one reads: “its Name Was” and line two reads: “Penelope”. The bottom of the label contains the publishing company’s name, address, and two phone numbers.

Floppy Disk, Macintosh, Back
The floppy disk is blue and measures 3 1/2” x 3 11/16”. The label on the back is red with white text, measures 2 12/16” x 9/16”, and wraps over the top of the disk. The text on the label contains the copyright information by Judy Malloy and Eastgate System, Inc.
 
Floppy Disk, Windows, Front
The floppy disk is grey and measures 3 1/2” x 3 11/16”. The label on the front is white with red and black text, measures 2 12/16” x 2 2/16”, and wraps over the top of the disk. The top of the label contains the information on the author and the title name. The author’s name is red and reads: “Judy Malloy”. The title is red, separated into two lines, and centered on the left and right side. Line one reads: “ITS NAME WAS” and line two reads: “Penelope”. Underneath the title, centered, and in black ink is the text for the operating system: Windows. Separating the top from the bottom of the label is a red thin box with white text that reads: “SERIOUS HYPERTEXT from”. The bottom of the label is white with red text and an ASCII image. The bottom of the label contains the publishing company’s logo, company name, address, and two phone numbers.
 
Floppy Disk, Windows, Back
The floppy disk is grey and measures 3 1/2” x 3 11/16”. The label on the back is white with red text, measures 2 12/16” x 9/16”, and wraps over the top of the disk. The text on the label contains the copyright information by Judy Malloy and Eastgate System, Inc.
 
Registration Mailer, Front
The registration mailer is a white postcard with black inked text. The top left of the postcard contains Eastgate Systems, Inc. contact information. The top-right of the postcard states that no postage is necessary. The center of the postcard is addressed to Eastgate Systems, Inc.
 
Registration Mailer, Back
The registration mailer is a white postcard with black inked text. The title at the top reads: “Please Register”. The left and right side of the title is a hand pointing toward it. The text prompts the reader to write down information about their product, name, organization, address, city, state, zip/postal code, country, email, and about how they feel.
 
Advertising Card, Turning In, Front
The postcard is an advertisement for Wes Chapman’s Turning In published by Eastgate Systems, Inc. and measures 6” x 4”. The art, color, and font for the title in the advertisement match Turning In’s folio cover.
 
Advertising Card, Turning In, Back
The postcard is an advertisement for Wes Chapman’s Turning In published by Eastgate Systems, Inc. and measures 6” x 4”. The postcard contains a brief description of Wes Chapman’s Turning In, information about Eastgate Systems, Inc. website, contact information for Eastgate Systems, Inc., and a special offer sticker promising 20% off your next Eastgate order.
 
Promotional Flyer, Storyspace, Front
The promotional flyer is a trifold advertisement for Storyspace and fully measures 11” x 8 ½”. The advertisement sections measure 3 11/16” x 8 ½”. The advertisement on the left side is a list of available works that are hypertext writing tools, hypertext fiction, and hypertext non-fiction. The advertisement in the middle contains the publisher’s mailing address and text to entice purchase. The advertisement on the right side is a bright blue background with the text: “Storyspace” and “serious hypertext”.

Promotional Flyer, Storyspace, Back
The promotional flyer is a trifold advertisement for Storyspace and fully measures 11” x 8 ½”. The advertisement sections measure 3 11/16” x 8 ½”. The advertisement on the left side contains the images of a Storyspace program, a quote, and how to get started. The Storyspace example is a program called The Electronic Benchbook. The quote is from Professor Howard Becker from the University of Washington. The how to get started text explains that a free three-page Storyspace bibliography is available. The advertisement in the middle contains quotes from Robert Coover for the NY Times Book Review, Carol VanLuipen, Jason Merkoski of MIT, Professor George Landow of Brown University, and Dr. Robert J. Glushko of Passage Systems, Inc.. The advertisement on the right side is a list of available works that are new hypertext and are from The Eastgate Bookstore.

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