[DCRM-L] Signature questions from newbies

[David Woodruff]

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