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

[Stephen Skuce]

Margaret's right, and I think Allison meant to type "... Christ" as well,
just as she'd typed "thousand."

It isn't always easy to see, but the "s" and "f" are slightly different: the
crossbar in the "f" goes all the way through. In the long "s" there's either
no bar at all, or there's a spur on one side only.

And you shouldn't create title added entries with "f" instead of "s" either.
Just transcribe it as "s" and you're done.

Stephen 


Stephen Skuce
Rare Books Program Coordinator
Institute Archives and Special Collections
MIT Room 14N-118
77 Mass. Ave.
Cambridge MA 02139-4307
617.253.0654


-----Original Message-----
From: dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu [mailto:dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu] On
Behalf Of Margaret Nichols
Sent: Friday, September 04, 2009 10:44 AM
To: Allison_Rich at brown.edu; DCRM Revision Group List
Subject: Re: [DCRM-L] Cataloging 18th-century colonial document - "f" in
place of "s"

According to DCRM(B) G2. (in Appendix G), this 
phrase should be transcribed with an "s" for the "long s," i.e.:

In the yeare of our Lord Christ one thousand seven hundred

That's my reading of it, anyway--

Best,

Margaret

At 09:58 AM 9/4/2009, Allison Rich wrote:
>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
>
>********************************

________________________________

Margaret Nichols
Head, Special Materials Unit
Library Technical Services
110 Olin Library
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY. 14853-5301
mnr1 at cornell.edu  *  Tel. (607) 255-5752 / 255-3530  *  Fax (607) 255-9524