[DCRM-L] unusual roman numeral dates on Latin books from 1700s

[Erin Blake]

See, for instance, Pieter W. Van der Horst and Gerard Mussies. “Subtractive Versus Additive Composite Numerals in Antiquity.” Illinois Classical Studies 13, no. 1 (1988): 183–202. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23064074.

The article focuses on antiquity, but touches on the continued use for different reasons.

The most obvious reason to use MDCCXIC instead of MDCCLXXXIX would be that it doesn’t take up as much room.

I don’t know if this would have been relevant at the time, but it could also be a way to make a date look less “dated” as time goes by: it connotes “almost 1800” (I know a grad student whose dissertation defence was pushed from December 1999 to January 2000 – a difference of three weeks that makes their resume look more current than it would otherwise).

Erin

_______________________________
Erin Blake | she/her | Folger Shakespeare Library




From: DCRM-L <dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu> On Behalf Of Colleen Fedewa via DCRM-L
Sent: Thursday, November 7, 2024 2:04 PM
To: DCRM Users' Group <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>
Cc: Colleen Fedewa <cof3 at case.edu>
Subject: Re: [DCRM-L] unusual roman numeral dates on Latin books from 1700s

Savioli, Giovanni Battista,1748-1823, author.
Dissertatio in caussam physicam aurorae borealis.
I am training a new cataloger to work on Special Collections and want to make sure I am reading this right. 😀
Thanks,
Colleen
Colleen O. Fedewa, MLS
Acquisitions & Metadata Librarian
Kelvin Smith Library
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH 44106
colleen.fedewa at case.edu<mailto:colleen.fedewa at case.edu>| (216)-368-3535<tel:(216)%20368-3535>


On Thu, Nov 7, 2024 at 1:55 PM Deborah J. Leslie via DCRM-L <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu<mailto:dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>> wrote:
What's the book?



______________________

Deborah J Leslie [cid:image001.png at 01DB3125.8B56BCB0] , M.A., M.L.S. | Senior Cataloger | Folger Shakespeare Library | djleslie at folger.edu<mailto:djleslie at folger.edu> | Opinions her own



________________________________
From: DCRM-L <dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu<mailto:dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu>> on behalf of Colleen Fedewa via DCRM-L <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu<mailto:dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>>
Sent: Thursday, November 7, 2024 12:19
To: DCRM Users' Group <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu<mailto:dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>>
Cc: Colleen Fedewa <cof3 at case.edu<mailto:cof3 at case.edu>>
Subject: [DCRM-L] unusual roman numeral dates on Latin books from 1700s

Hello,
I have come across a date in an order that I have never seen before. The book has, " MDCCXIC". I have found a couple of examples that infer this would be 1789 due to some historical usage of a variant of the subtractive form. Can someone confirm this and/or direct me to a source discussing this.
Thank you for your assistance,
Colleen
Colleen O. Fedewa, MLS
Acquisitions & Metadata Librarian
Kelvin Smith Library
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH 44106
colleen.fedewa at case.edu<mailto:colleen.fedewa at case.edu>| (216)-368-3535<tel:(216)%20368-3535>
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