The electronic-critical edition of Stijn Streuvels' novel De 'Teleurgang van den Waterboek', the first electronic edition project on modern Dutch literature making use of the SGML/TEI encoding standards

The electronic-critical edition of De teleurgang van den Waterboek (The Dec line of the Waterhoek) a 1927 novel by the Flemish author Stijn Streuvels, is the first electronic edition project on modern Dutch literature making u se of the SGML/TEI encoding standards. By comparing the electronic edition on cd-rom to the printed critical edition I discuss several possibilities a nd limitations of both types of editions. Despite of the flexibility of the hypertext structure and the use of retrieval software, the electronic edit ion suffers form the lack of tools to compare or collate versions. Because some versions are provided only in facsimiles and others in basic transcrip tions (moreover, not all the primary sources are available), the possibilit ies to verify the editor's critical practice or to vary the editorial assum ptions and critical are limited.