[DCRM-L] signature question

[Noble, Richard]

That second run of preliminary signatures is properly understood as an inseparable part of the 4th series, so it should be:

⁴*-2*⁶ 3*² A-2F⁶ 2G⁴

That is, each series should be dealt with as a whole. What you’re designating is not duplication as such, but re-use of substantially the same symbol set for a sequence of gatherings--in this case a 4th set of gatherings with signatures that begin with a single-letter upper-case alphabet, which happens to include preliminary gatherings signed according to the printer's conventions for prelims.

Remember that the formulary is partly devised to support unambiguous positional reference, so that, in this case, ⁴2*3 can be clearly understood to refer to leaf 3 of the gathering signed 2* in the fourth sequence of similarly signed gatherings. This has the further advantage of reflecting the contents of the book, which seems to have four distinct parts. (I presume that the third part does indeed indeed with an unsigned singleton, not that the fourth part begins with one.)

By the way, I think the series might better be separated with semi-colons, which further permits the use of commas to set off preliminary signatures. Bowers's rule for semi-colons versus commas between series is illogically based on a detail of typographical aesthetics.

[dagger]-2[dagger]⁴ *-3*⁴ 4*⁶, A-R⁶ S-T⁴ V-Z⁶ 2A⁶(-2A6) 2B-2C⁶; ²A-3G⁴ 3H⁶; ³A-2H⁴ 2I⁶ 2K⁴ 2L⁶ chi1; ⁴*-2*⁶ 3*², A-2F⁶ 2G⁴

For what it's worth, if the fourth part began with the unsigned leaf it would be: 

⁴pi1 *-2*⁶ 3*², A-2F⁶ 2G⁴

RICHARD NOBLE : RARE BOOKS CATALOGER : JOHN HAY LIBRARY : BROWN UNIVERSITY
PROVIDENCE, RI 02912 : 401-863-1187/FAX 863-2093 : RICHARD_NOBLE at BROWN.EDU 


 -----Original Message-----
From: dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu [mailto:dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu] On Behalf Of silvanan at mptek.net
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2009 12:48 PM
To: DCRM-L
Subject: [DCRM-L] signature question

Hello there,
I have a signature statement with duplicate prelim signatures (signed w/
*) as well as duplicate alphabet signatures.
My statement is recorded like this:
Signatures: [dagger]-2[dagger]⁴*-3*⁴4*⁶ A-R⁶ S-T⁴ V-Z⁶
2A⁶(-2A6) 2B-2C⁶, ²A-3G⁴ 3H⁶, ³A-2H⁴ 2I⁶ 2K⁴ 2L⁶ chi1,
²*-2*⁶ 3*², ⁴A-2F⁶ 2G⁴.
(the box symbol would be a superscript 6)
I just want to know if this is the correct way to record repeating
instances of prelim signatures signed with non-alphabetical characters
in the middle of repeated alphabetical sequences.

Thanks
-Silvana