[DCRM-L] Signature questions from newbies

[Deborah J. Leslie]

Hi Dick and Cindy,

Regarding your first question, I would encourage you just to use "pi"
for the first gathering. For anyone looking at signature statements,
it's jarring to see an inferred gathering for a character not in a
sequence. And since you'd have to have a note to explain where the "[*]"
came from, it makes most sense to use "pi" as the established symbol for
an unsigned gathering. If you like, you can add a note about the
register identifying the first gathering as *. I wouldn't, unless I had
some reason to catalog that volume in particular depth. 

-----Original Message-----
From: dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu [mailto:dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu] On
Behalf Of David Woodruff
Sent: Tuesday, 09 September, 2008 16:59
To: dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu
Subject: Re: [DCRM-L] Signature questions from newbies

Hi, Dick and Cindy,

Good to hear from you! Collating preliminaries is often a problem
because they tend to be irregular, and a tight binding will prevent you
from figuring out what's going on. Preliminaries can also differ from
copy to copy, depending on how different binders assembled the book.
These are some of the reasons why the signatures note is optional, and
it's often better to omit it rather than spend a lot of time and maybe
get it wrong, or risk damaging the binding in the attempt.

1.  Four unsigned leaves occur at beginning; however, register from 
colophon indicates * a b c ...
Should the first gathering be recorded as:  [*]4 ?    (4 is superscript)
More generally, should register be noted?
-- I don't usually note the register, but you certainly can, and then
you don't have to supply a signature statement (providing your copy
agrees with the register). Here you'll want to mention the register as
the source for the first signature symbol. [*]4 looks right. 

2. Twelve leaves at beginning: leaves 1 & 2 unsigned; leaf 3 signed 
aij; leaf 4 aiij; leaf 5 aiiij; leaf 6 av; leaves 7-12 unsigned.
pi1 a12 (-a1?)   (12 is superscript)
-- What you suggest is correct if the first leaf is not part of the
gathering. Or the gathering may be complete but the signing inaccurate,
in which case you would put a12 in the signature statement and make a
note like: leaves a3-6 signed aij-v.

3. Pattern of 8 and 4 leaves signed:  a8 b4 A8 B4 C8 D4 E8 F4 
...  (all nos. superscript)
Sounds familiar from Deborah Leslie's class, but can't locate notes.
a8 b4 A-F (alternate 8 and 4)    (first 8 and 4 are superscript)
This is 15 cm.  Duodecimo?
-- This looks right for duodecimo. Gaskell says duodecimo pages can be
12.5 - 15 cm. or more in height. A-F8/4 presents a problem because the
slash can't be superscript, but Deborah's solution is just to use the
regular, non-superscript slash between the superscript 8 and 4.

Keep up the good work!

David

David Woodruff, Rare Book Cataloger
Getty Research Institute Library
310.440.7512