[DCRM-L] How should a rebus be transcribed?

[Schneider, Nina]

Hi Erin

I think option A seems correct, but option C is the most elegant.
Perhaps if the whole title of option C was bracketed:

Option C:
Title: [The Bute interest in the city, or the bridge in the hole]
Imprint: [London] : Sold in May's Buildings, Covent Garden [by George
Bickham, 1760]
Note: Title in the form of a rebus, with pictures for Bute (a boot),
city, bridge, and hole. Publisher's address in the form of a rebus, with
pictures for Buildings and Garden. 

If it came down to it though, I'd probably go with Option A

-----Original Message-----
From: dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu [mailto:dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu] On
Behalf Of Erin Blake
Sent: Sunday, March 29, 2009 6:51 PM
To: dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu
Subject: [DCRM-L] How should a rebus be transcribed?

Has anyone transcribed a rebus? While talking about disguised dates in
chronograms, the DCRM(G) editors wondered about other kinds of disguised
information. For example, the print at http://dcrmg.pbwiki.com/Rebuses
might be dealt with using one of the following options:

Option A:
Title: The [boot i.e. Bute] interest in the [city], or the [bridge] in
the [hole]
Imprint: [London] : Sold in May's [Buildings] Covent [Garden] [by George
Bickham, 1760]
Note: Title and publisher's address in the form of a rebus.

Option B:
Title: The [rebus for boot, i.e. Bute] interest in the [rebus for city],
or the [rebus for bridge] in the [rebus for hole]
Imprint: [London] : Sold in May's [rebus for buildings] Covent [rebus
for garden] [by George Bickham, 1760]

Option C:
Title: The Bute interest in the city, or the bridge in the hole
Imprint: [London] : Sold in May's Buildings, Covent Garden [by George
Bickham, 1760]
Note: Title in the form of a rebus, with pictures for Bute (a boot),
city, bridge, and hole. Publisher's address in the form of a rebus, with
pictures for Buildings and Garden.

The print in question could also be catalogued as a broadside, but the
other two examples linked to from http://dcrmg.pbwiki.com/Rebuses are
clearly graphic materials.

What do you think?

   EB.

---------------------------------------
Erin C. Blake, Ph.D. | Curator of Art & Special Collections | Folger
Shakespeare Library | 201 E. Capitol St. SE | Washington, DC 20003-1004
| office tel. 202.675-0323 | fax 202.675-0328 | e-mail:
eblake at folger.edu