[DCRM-L] signature statement question

[Joseph Ross]

Noah,

This situation has come up on our list before in a discussion on Friday
September 25, 2015. Nina Schneider posed the question:

 *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]. *

*I made the following point to the discussion: ''*


 *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. I still think that is the best description of this signature
pattern. Joseph Ross Unversity of Notre Dame *

On Wed, Jun 13, 2018 at 1:29 PM, Noble, Richard <richard_noble at brown.edu>
wrote:

> Dear Noah,
>
> I'm not sure there's one correct way to deal with this, but it's best to
> follow the structure in the formula and use the signing statement to
> explain what one sees--so something like:
>
>       Collation: folio: [1]^10 (signing 1st rectos of the inner 4 bifolia
> as b-e)
>
> If that seems too much compressed for the sake of compression, the signing
> statement could be presented as a discursive note pretty much like the
> description in your inquiry, which is perfectly clear; but the formula
> seems a useful bibliographical declaration that this is structurally a
> single unsigned folio gathering of 10 leaves. Those who understand the
> formula and those who care are probably the same people.
>
> Cheers,
> Richard
>
> 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 Wed, Jun 13, 2018 at 11:40 AM, Noah Sheola <sheola at bc.edu> wrote:
>
>> Hello all,
>>
>> I am cataloging a folio, consisting of a single gathering of 5 bifolia.
>> The first leaf is unsigned, the second is signed "b", the third "c", the
>> fourth "d", and the fifth "e". I don't think I've seen this before and am
>> uncertain how to do the signature statement. Any advice much appreciated.
>>
>> For context, the imprint is Lisbon, 1767.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Noah
>>
>> --
>> Noah Sheola
>> Special Collections Cataloging Librarian
>> Burns Library
>> Boston College
>>
>
>
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