[DCRM-L] Determining bibliographical format

[Rutkowski, June]

I am fresh off of Deborah J. Leslie's Rare Book Cataloging course at the Rare Book School, and I have my first rare book sitting in front of me.  It's a French book from 1679.

One question I have is about determining format.  The book dealer says it's a 24mo.  The gatherings have 6 leaves each, the chain lines are horizontal, and the height is 13 cm.

According to my chart a 24mo with horizontal chain lines cannot have 6 leaves.  I'm thinking it's a 12mo.

There is a dcrmb record in OCLC for a 12mo copy that is very similar to mine (signatures and number of preliminary pages are different). 973455836.

So, my questions are: how much weight does a cataloger give to a dealer's description?  And, is the information I've provided here (gatherings of 6 leaves, horizontal chain lines, height 13 cm) enough evidence to determine that my book is a 12mo?

If this is an inappropriate question please be gentle with me.  I'm an old cataloger, but a spanking new rare-book cataloger, eager to participate in this community.

Thank you,
June Rutkowski
Cataloger
Harvard Library Information and Technical Services
Cambridge, MA 02139


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