[DCRM-L] crazy signatures

[Noble, Richard]

"Continuous bifolium numeration"--certainly as good a term as any--is
obviously analogous to the direction numbering that one occasionally
encounters in later books. Per Bowers one treats such gatherings as
"unsigned", which is fine if they're isolated pi's or chi's; but because
Nina's example is numbered in a way that could be used for reference, one
searches for a way to incorporate the numbers into a formula.

Maybe (I dunno) 1/2/3-49/50/51^6 52^2? Explanation will be required,
whatever one does, and it could just as well be [unsigned, 1-17^6 18^2],
which tells the structural story very neatly, but doesn't work very well
for reference; and a formula that doesn't refer well doesn't quite fulfill
its purpose.



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 Fri, Sep 25, 2015 at 8:59 AM, Joseph Ross <jross at nd.edu> wrote:

> Nina,
>
> I seem to remember this as one of the unusual signature patterns of the
> manuscript period. The term that comes to mind is "continuous bifolia
> numeration."  There is no quire signature but the bifolia are numbered
> continuously from beginning to end.  It was not a common practice.  I don't
> remember if any printers used it.  Sorry I don't have any references I can
> quote.
>
> Joseph Ross
> Rare Books Cataloger
> University of Notre Dame
>
>
>
> On Thu, Sep 24, 2015 at 5:26 PM, Schneider, Nina <
> nschneider at humnet.ucla.edu> wrote:
>
>> Another question for the advance bibliographers amongst us...
>>
>> I have in my hand the French translation of Hystoyre et plaisante
>> cronicque. It is printed in 1793/4 (an II) in Paris. It is signed in such a
>> way that I'm at a loss on how to record it.
>>
>> It starts off innocently enough: pi^4 but then this happens (and this is
>> a page-by page recreation):
>> 1,2,3, [unsigned], [unsigned], [unsigned], 4, 5,6, [unsigned],
>> [unsigned], [unsigned], 7,8,9, [unsigned], [unsigned], [unsigned], 10, 11,
>> 12, [unsigned], [unsigned], [unsigned] ... 49, 50, 51 [unsigned],
>> [unsigned], [unsigned], 52, [unsigned].
>>
>> Is there a way to capture this in a signature statement or do I just
>> include the whole thing? Bowers is failing me.
>>
>> Chain lines run vertical. My uncut copy is 14 cm high.
>>
>> Thanks in advance!
>>
>> Nina
>>
>> +---------------
>> Nina M. Schneider
>> Rare Books Librarian
>> William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
>> 2520 Cimarron Street
>> Los Angeles, CA  90018
>> (323) 731-8529
>>
>> nschneider at humnet.ucla.edu
>> http://www.clarklibrary.ucla.edu/
>>
>> ** Please note that the Clark Library is currently CLOSED for our seismic
>> retrofit **
>>
>> ****************************************************************************
>>
>>
>
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