<font size="2"><font face="georgia,serif"><div><font size="2"><font face="georgia,serif">Well, in the "for what it's worth" department, I think the nearest WWBD* formula would be</font></font></div><div><font size="2"><font face="georgia,serif"><br>
</font></font></div><div><font size="2"><font face="georgia,serif"><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal">[A]<sup>4</sup> <sup><span style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">π</span></sup>B<sup>4</sup>
b-i<sup>4</sup>, B-3X<sup>4</sup> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal">which is how I infer from Bowers' preferences expressed on p. 216 and 220. Not to infer [A] is improper where, as usual in English practice--I assume this is an English book--the printer began the text with B, reserving A for the first gathering (Bowers p. 216). The B signature in the preliminaries is easily distinguished from the main series B with prefixed pi, interpreting the word "preliminary" somewhat broadly, and following examples in which a second or later preliminary gathering is thus differenced (p. 220, a rare instance of out and out pragmatism in Bowers).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal">*What Would Bowers Do: RBS Des Bib motto.</p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; "><br>
</span></font></p></font></font></div><br clear="all"></font></font><font face="'courier new', monospace">RICHARD NOBLE : RARE BOOKS CATALOGER : JOHN HAY LIBRARY : BROWN UNIVERSITY<br>PROVIDENCE, RI 02912 : 401-863-1187/FAX 863-3384 : <a href="mailto:RICHARD_NOBLE@BROWN.EDU" target="_blank">RICHARD_NOBLE@BROWN.EDU</a> </font><br>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Oct 3, 2011 at 1:15 PM, John Lancaster <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jjlancaster@me.com">jjlancaster@me.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
<div><div>Randal - I think any of the three choices you suggest (as well as [a]) could be defended, more or less, but I agree with your choice of pi. Neither Gaskell nor Bowers is at all comprehensive - they couldn't be, I think, so cataloguer's (or bibliographer's) judgment is still a significant component of the descriptive process.<br>
</div><font color="#888888"><div><pre style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">John Lancaster<br></pre></div></font><div><div></div><div class="h5"><div><pre style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">
<br></pre></div><div>On Oct 03, 2011, at 12:50 PM, Randal Brandt <<a href="mailto:rbrandt@library.berkeley.edu" target="_blank">rbrandt@library.berkeley.edu</a>> wrote:<br><br><div><blockquote type="cite"><div><div>
I am cataloging a book with partially duplicated signatures and would <br>
like some advice. The book is an octavo in 4's and the preliminaries are <br>
signed as follows:<br>
<br>
unsigned gathering, B, b-i<br>
<br>
The main text is then signed:<br>
<br>
B-3X<br>
<br>
My question is about the initial unsigned gathering. Would it be <br>
recorded as '[A]', '[superscript pi][A]', or 'pi'? The second gathering <br>
has to be signed '[superscript pi]B' because of the duplicated B <br>
gathering that begins the text. At this point I'm leaning towards 'pi' <br>
since 'A' is not used in any of the subsequent sequences, resulting in a <br>
signature statement as follows:<br>
<br>
pi^4 [superscript pi]B^4, b-i^4, B-3X^4<br>
<br>
Any other suggestions? I've looked at Gaskell p. 331 and Bowers p. 219+, <br>
but do not see this particular situation.<br>
<br>
Thanks!<br>
<br>
-- <br>
__________________________<br>
Randal Brandt<br>
Principal Cataloger<br>
The Bancroft Library<br>
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remembering my reasons for them"--The Streets.<br>
<br>
</div></div></blockquote></div></div></div></div></div>
</blockquote></div><br>