[DCRM-L] Unusual signatures

[Noble, Richard]

The signatures are referred to as "unused". They are an element of the
printing plates, which could actually be arranged on the press in a
different way, that is, to produce a different format, and often were.

In some cases the plates contained two sets of signatures--often
alphabetical signatures for 8s and numerical signatures for 12s--and in
many cases neither set was used. This is a strictly American practice, as
far as I've ever seen--I've never seen it in a British or continental book.
It became so ridiculous that American printers generally abandoned the use
of signatures altogether over the course of the 1870s.

It is often possible to establish the actual structure of the book (the
arrangement of the leaves into gatherings), but unless you're familiar with
the phenomenon, and confident about your  ability to analyze the structure,
there's no reason worry about a collation. It's still possible to state
what the signatures are purely as an element of the printing plates,
without saying anything about format. Still, for most situations, a good
account of the pagination will suffice.

This is an early example, and I'd certainly remark on it for its value as
evidence regarding American printing practice of the period and place--but
Deborah's quite right to suggest being content with the AAS record--they're
... ummm ... pretty good at cataloging.

FWIW, there are examples of formal treatment in the Brown University
catalog:

http://josiah.brown.edu/search/X=%22unused+signatures%22


RICHARD NOBLE :: RARE MATERIALS CATALOGUER :: JOHN HAY LIBRARY
BROWN UNIVERSITY  ::  PROVIDENCE, R.I. 02912  ::  401-863-1187
<Richard_Noble at Br <RICHARD_NOBLE at BROWN.EDU>own.edu>

On Thu, Sep 25, 2014 at 6:32 PM, Linde B. <linde.brocato at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> On Thu, Sep 25, 2014 at 4:38 PM, Deborah J. Leslie <DJLeslie at folger.edu>
> wrote:
>
>> For good reason! Run away from those signatures (and even the assertion
>> that it's an 8vo) as fast as you can and don't look back. There's not much
>> room for improvement on the AAS's master record: 191238702
>
>
> Just out of curiosity, why?
>
> Are they meaningless?
>
> Is this just too modern for us?
>
> Linde M. Brocato
>
>
>
> --
> "I went out to the kitchen to make coffee -- yards of coffee.
> Rich, strong, bitter, boiling hot, ruthless, depraved. The lifeblood of
> tired men."
> --Raymond Chandler, *The Long Goodbye*
>
> Food which is grown under conditions of oppression is ripe for rejection;
> overly-packaged and environmentally insensitive products seem indulgent;
> foods full of empty calories, cholesterol, fats and sugars do nothing to
> promote health and eviscerate the image of the Divine in which we are
> created.
> --Reconstructionist Rabbi Richard Hirsh
>
> "It's always because we love that we are rebellious; it takes a great deal
> of
> love to give a damn one way or another what happens from now on: I still
> do."
>   Kenneth Patchen, Poet & Painter
>
> Hell is the state in which we are barred from receiving what we truly need
> because of the value we give to what we merely want. -- Jacob Needleman,
>
> *Money and the Meaning of Life*Though no one can go back and make a brand
> new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new end.
>
>
>
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