University of Virginia Library

Rules for Using the STCN Fingerprint

• 0 Introduction
• 0.1 In the case of works consisting of more than one volume a separate fingerprint is made for each volume.
• 0.2 The fingerprint is based on the ideal copy of the book. Any errors in binding or imposition are ignored and tacitly corrected.
0.3 Each fingerprint is composed of the following elements:
• 1 date/format (see §1);
• 2 the indicators (see §2);
• 3 the signatures (see §3);
• 4 the text above the signatures (see §4);
• 5 Punctuation (see §5).
• 1 Date and format
• 1.1 The year, transcribed into arabic numerals but not converted to the Christian era from the Jewish etc., and without correction of printing

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  errors, is given as it appears in the imprint on the title-page: e.g. 1692, M.D.Lij = 1552, An 7 = 0007.
• 1.2 If no explicit year of publication appears in the imprint, the date is given as 0000. Dates taken from copy imprints etc. are used, however.
• 1.3 Printing errors in roman etc. numerals which result in a non-existent date (e.g. M.D.Mij) are replaced by 0000.
• 1.4 The format is given as 02, 04, 08, 12 etc.; oblong is not indicated. If the format cannot be determined with certainty it is shown as 00.
• 2 Indicators
2.1 The signatures selected are named as follows:
• 1. Preliminary matter, first/last: a1, a2;
• 2. Main text, " " b1, b2;
• 3. Postliminary matter " " c1, c2.
• 2.2 Any subdivisions within a work which are marked by a new series of signatures are mentioned separately in the fingerprint. The indicator is then given a serial number. For example: a collational formula A-2B4, 2A-P4 may refer to a work whose fingerprint is: 1b1 A2 aa : 1b2 2B3 bb - 2b1 A cc : 2b2 P3 dd
• 2.3 Positions that do not occur are not indicated as such. If the first and last positions coincide they are shown as b1=b2.
• 3 Signatures
• 3.1 The signatures are given in simplified form, e.g. AAA iij becomes 3A3.
• 3.2 If more than one signature appears on a page, the bottom one, or the one nearest the right, is used.
• 3.3 Selection. The signatures used are the first and last in every primary or secondary bibliographical (not textual) unit, i.e.:
• 3.4 Preliminary matter if and in so far as it has a separate sequence of signatures. It is regarded as a single whole even if illogically or arbitrarily signed. The procedure is repeated if more than one subseries in the signatures coincide with clear subdivisions of the preliminary matter (e.g. * -3 * and a-d, preface and index respectively).
• 3.5 Text (in the bibliographical sense, i.e. including preliminary and postliminary matter if not separately signed). The text is regarded as a single unit if one or more alphabets are used in regular succession for the signatures (even if interrupted by, for example, a title and preliminary matter for a second part: of A-2C, *, 2D-3P only A and 3P). The procedure is repeated if a new subdivision of the text begins with a new alphabet (2A, a, 2A, etc., even if the previous one happens to have ended in Z), or if a new subdivision starts in the middle of a gathering but still begins using a new alphabet for the signature from that point on. Even a collational formula such as A-5D4 a-g4 5E-7F4 counts as three elements.
• 3.6 Postliminary matter, if and in so far as it is separately signed. For the rest as 3.4.
• 3.7 In the case of works consisting of more than one volume a new fingerprint is made for every volume. Each fingerprint is then preceded by the volume

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  number and a mark which the computer can recognize (here: £), e.g. 1£166112 - etc.
• 3.8 If the last line ends at a point to the left of the end of the signature of the gathering, i.e. directly above it, that signature is not used; if the last line ends to the left of the beginning of the signature, then the line above that is used.

• 3.9 If a book (or the main text in it) is entirely without signatures, or if none of its signatures can be used (in accordance with §3.11), then a note is made of the piece of text, on a number of pages, of the second line from the bottom falling above the third word of the bottom line (or the third and the second from the bottom if the bottom line is shorter than three words).

  The pages chosen are the first and last printed rectos of each textual and at the same time bibliographical subdivision of the book: if the collational formula is [A]-[F]4 the pages chosen are A2 and A4, B1 and E4, F1 and F4 if, say, prelims, main text and index begin on A1, B1 and F1 respectively; if text and index start in the middle of a gathering, only A2 and F4 are taken (A2 and not A1 because not the title-page but the page after it is used).

  The rest of the procedure is as usual, i.e. the third word of the bottom line is treated as if it were the signature of the gathering. If a main text occurs without signatures while the preliminary and postliminary matter are signed, then the usual rules apply to the preliminary and postliminary matter.

• 3.10 If the above procedure cannot be carried out (e.g. in the case of atlases, books of plates, sheet music, tables and diagrams), no fingerprint is made except for year and format.

• 3.11 If a signature cannot be used, the following respectively previous one is used.

  A signature is unusable if:

  • 1. the bottom of it is more than 25 mm from the bottom of the bottom line of text, or if there is no text above it at all;
  • 2. it occurs below an illustration, graph, table, musical passage, map, etc., i.e. not below a bottom line of text;
  • 3. the symbols referred to are not in a Roman or Greek alphabet (e.g. Arabic, Cyrillic etc.).

• 3.12 Sometimes it will be useful or necessary to use a signature that would ordinarily be unusuable, e.g. if it is the only one, or the only remotely usable one in that section of the book.
• 3.13 If a signature is used that is 'wrong' according to 3.11-12 this is indicated with an asterisk (*) before the indicator: * b2 etc.
• 3.14 By signature is meant the entire signature, i.e. including surrounding brackets, points, ornaments etc.
• 4 Text

• 4.1 The piece of text appearing above the prescribed signature is recorded,

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  i.e. those characters that fall wholly or virtually wholly within the prescribed limits. ('Virtually wholly' means: where it is impossible to decide whether the character does or does not fall wholly within the limit.) Characters which only partly fall within the limit are disregarded.

  If a signature falls under only a part of one character or under parts of two successive characters, these parts count as whole characters: M = M, MA = MA, nu wel = nu wel.

• 4.2 By characters is meant: typographical units such as letters, numerals, diacritical or punctuation marks, symbols etc. A space, regardless of length, counts as one character and is represented as a $. The characters are transcribed in accordance with the relevant rules.
• 4.3 Contractions and the ligatures Æ/æ, Œ/œ & and β, whether or not they are taken over into the fingerprint, (like &) or written out in full (like β = ss) are treated as a single character. Other ligatures are regarded as more than one character: ffi etc.
• 4.4 In Greek every ligature is treated as a single character, though transcribed as if expanded:
  
  (A|ὐ|χ ε|ῖ|ζ| |εἶναι| |τό|δε| |τοὖ|œ|γο|ν| |ἐ|μό|ν|) is nineteen characters (spaces included).

• 4.5 Other alphabets (e.g. Hebrew, Arabic) can also be processed using transcriptions. If this is out of the question because of staffing problems the best solution is to take the following or previous leaf. If it is still impossible to find a suitable leaf, a fingerprint will have to be dispensed with.

  (What is left over: date/format - )

• 5 Punctuation (optional)
• 5.1 This punctuation is designed first and foremost for our computer program. Other users may use it as they wish.

• 5.2 The fingerprint is punctuated as follows:

  Between date/format, preliminary group(s), main group(s) and postliminary group(s): space, hyphen, space ( - ).

  Between the first and last notation within a group: space, colon, space ( : ).

  At the end, no closing point.