<font face="georgia,serif">Because even though it may be in a standard dictionary, "asterism" is not a "standard" word, but a rather esoteric printer's term--as esoteric as it is when used to mean "a small group of stars" or "the optical phenomenon of a star-shaped figure exhibited by some
crystals by reflected light (as in a star sapphire) or by transmitted
light (as in some mica)" (Webster3). It's even more esoteric than, say, "fist", because it's not one's most immediate thought that there must be "a word" for the constellations </font><font class="Apple-style-span" face="georgia, serif"><sub><span style="line-height: 115%; ">*</span></sub><sup><span style="line-height: 115%; ">*</span></sup></font><sub><span style="line-height: 115%; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="georgia, serif">* , </font></span></sub><font class="Apple-style-span" face="georgia, serif"><sup><span style="line-height: 115%; ">*</span></sup><sub><span style="line-height: 115%; ">*</span></sub><sup><span style="line-height: 115%; ">*</span></sup><span style="line-height: 115%; ">.</span></font><div>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="georgia, serif"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><br></span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="georgia, serif"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">In a collational formula it would be inappropriate to write "[asterism]</span><sup><span style="line-height: 115%; ">4</span></sup><span style="line-height: 115%; ">", especially because it's most likely to turn up in a sequence of multiple-asterisk signatures, *-3*, or whatever; and, in nay case, one disregards such typographic details in the formula proper. In an explanatory note one might use the term for the sake of compact phrasing, e.g. "in edition A signature 3* is an upright asterism, in edition B an inverted one". But I'd <i>still</i> define the term, because I simply cannot expect even a reasonably sophisticated online catalog user to understand what the heck I'm talking about, or to have a lot of interest in looking up a word right at that moment. In a formal bibliography concerning a body of books in which asterisms turn up with some frequency, I might indeed use the word without explanation, though I'd probably define it in a, introductory note on my descriptive conventions.</span></font></div>
<div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="georgia, serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><br></span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="georgia, serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;">Mind you, I still <i>like</i> the word, and am delighted to have had it brought to our attention. And of course, we could take it as an inspiration to asterize all sorts of things (<i>asterizein</i>: Gr., to arrange in constellations).<br>
</span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 115%; "></span></font></p><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="georgia, serif"><br>
</font><div><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 31, 2011 at 10:00 AM, Deborah J. Leslie <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:DJLeslie@folger.edu">DJLeslie@folger.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
<div lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple"><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#1F497D">Oh no, it was serious. I like using a single word that exactly describes character in a signature statement or in a note, and think your workarounds are less descriptive and less elegant. Why would you feel constrained to explain a standard dictionary word? <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#1F497D"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><div style="border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt"> <a href="mailto:dcrm-l-bounces@lib.byu.edu" target="_blank">dcrm-l-bounces@lib.byu.edu</a> [mailto:<a href="mailto:dcrm-l-bounces@lib.byu.edu" target="_blank">dcrm-l-bounces@lib.byu.edu</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Noble, Richard<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Sunday, 30 October, 2011 21:19<br><b>To:</b> DCRM Revision Group List<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [DCRM-L] Asterism<u></u><u></u></span></p></div><div><div></div><div class="h5"><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"">If I were referring to such a phenomenon in a non-collation note I'd feel constrained to explain it: "asterism (i.e. 3 asterisks in a pyramid)". What of an inverted pyramid (much more common)? And in a collational <i>formula</i> I'd write "3*", and describe the arrangement in a further note, if the exact form needed specifying for some reason. What about six asterisks in a pyramid? </span><u></u><u></u></p>
<div><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"">Or is this a thickly pedantic response to a slightly tongue-in-cheek suggestion (for which I get maybe the lower half of a star for taking the bait, but no more than that)?</span><u></u><u></u></p>
</div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"">It's a wonderful word, nevertheless.</span><u></u><u></u></p>
</div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif""><br clear="all"></span><span style="font-family:"Courier New"">RICHARD NOBLE : RARE BOOKS CATALOGER : JOHN HAY LIBRARY : BROWN UNIVERSITY<br>
PROVIDENCE, RI 02912 : <a href="tel:401-863-1187" value="+14018631187" target="_blank">401-863-1187</a>/FAX 863-3384 : <a href="mailto:RICHARD_NOBLE@BROWN.EDU" target="_blank">RICHARD_NOBLE@BROWN.EDU</a> </span><br><br><u></u><u></u></p>
<div><p class="MsoNormal">On Sat, Oct 29, 2011 at 9:18 PM, Deborah J. Leslie <<a href="mailto:DJLeslie@folger.edu" target="_blank">DJLeslie@folger.edu</a>> wrote:<u></u><u></u></p><div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#215868">This is going around on facebook just now: there’s a name for the pyramid of three asterisks: asterism. We can use it in signature statements instead of trying to describe it, a la “[three asterisks in a pyramid]” .</span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#215868"> </span><u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#215868"><a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/13-punctuation-marks-that-you-never-knew-existed" target="_blank">http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/13-punctuation-marks-that-you-never-knew-existed</a> </span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#215868"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterism_%28typography%29" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterism_%28typography%29</a> </span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#215868"> </span></i><u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#215868">Deborah J. Leslie, M.A., M.L.S. | Head of Cataloging, Folger Shakespeare Library</span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#215868"><a href="mailto:djleslie@folger.edu" target="_blank"><span style="color:#215868;text-decoration:none">djleslie@folger.edu</span></a> | <a href="tel:202.675-0369" target="_blank">202.675-0369</a> | <a href="http://www.folger.edu" target="_blank">www.folger.edu</a></span><u></u><u></u></p>
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