[DCRM-L] Cataloging 18th-century colonial document - "f" in place of "s"

[Allison Rich]

Hello Sharon:

According to the DCRM cataloguing rules even though the letter resembles 
an "f" it is truly an "s".
It's just most often called a "long s" and is a convention of 
typography, not a change in the letter.

So you would represent the 245 as:

In the yeare of our Lord Chrift one thousand seven hundred

The rules of converting and repesenting i's and j's, u's and v's can 
also be found in DCRM.

The rules of capitalization can be found in AACR2.

Have fun,
~Allison




> Good morning,
>
> I’m a novice cataloger of rare documents and have a question for the 
> much more knowledgable members of the list. I’m cataloging an 18^th 
> century deed in which the letter which resembles “f” is occasionally 
> used where modern writers use “s.” For example, the first line of this 
> document reads, in part, “…In the yeare of our Lord Chrift one 
> thoufand Seven Hundred…” This is the line we will be using for our 
> title. In the 245 field in our MARC record, my fellow cataloger and I 
> are debating how to represent this letter. Should we use our modern 
> “f,” as I’ve done above, since it most closely resembles the letter 
> used at the time? Should we replace that letter with “[s]” to 
> designate what the letter represents to the modern reader? Should we 
> use an “s” without brackets? And one more question: what is this 
> letter called?
>
> Thanks in advance for any and all help!
>
********************************
"Outside of a dog, 
a book is probably man's best friend,
and inside of a dog, 
it's too dark to read. 
- Groucho Marx"

Allison Rich
Catalogue Librarian
John Carter Brown Library
Providence, Rhode Island
Allison_Rich at brown.edu

********************************