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Cataloguing: training topics and notes

These are the notes for rare books cataloguers from the Rare Books in Scotland Forum's workshop held on 19 January 2006.

The following handouts were distributed:

  • A list of items used in the workshop
  • A list of printed and on-line reference sources
  • Information on using the ESTC and the STAR databases
  • A short note on heraldry, related to provenance
  • Printouts of catalogue records for items discussed
  • A blank form for cataloguing practice

The workshop started with a brief introduction to the following topics:

  • What is a rare book?
  • How to handle rare books
  • Why do rare books require more detailed cataloguing?
  • Discussion of useful printed and online resources
  • ESTC (English Short-Title Catalogue) and STAR database

Production features

  • False imprint: Commonly used to circumvent political and religious publication restrictions. This work condemns the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre of French Protestants. The English printer gave Edinburgh as the place of publication for this anti-Catholic work. H.34.g.17a.
  • Errata, advertisements and frontispiece leaves: Need to be recorded in both the pagination and the notes fields. BCL.A1852 and BCL.B3550
  • Formats: A book can be produced in more than one format, here octavo and duodecimo issues of the same title produced in the same year. ABS.1.76.368 and Hall.197.c
  • Imprint date with turned C's: a curved line looking much like an inverted C used to represent 1000 and 500. Apparently printers used it in a deliberate attempt to achieve an archaic look. C.7.a.17.
  • Normal and large paper issues: A gutter (inner margin) of at least 2 cm is the most reliable way to identify large paper issues; outer margins may have been trimmed, perhaps during rebinding. BCL.C1542 and R.4.c
  • Latin title pages: Author's name, residence, or occupation can appear before the title proper. The modern form of the place of publication is put in square brackets after its antiquated Latin form. Suther.235(1).

Copy-specific features

  • Watermarks: From 1794 it became a legal requirement to watermark paper with its date of manufacture. This can be useful for producing a 'not before' or 'ca.' date in undated late 18th and early 19th century items. APS.4.83.68.
  • Ownership inscriptions: Previous owners' names of a book can be discovered from their handwritten inscriptions. This item also has parchment leaves with 10th or 11th century Caroline miniscules, which were retained from the original binding when the book was rebound. SBA.157
  • Bookplates: Designs of bookplates can be associated with particular periods and dated roughly. Some knowledge of heraldry is useful when tracing the provenance of items with armorial bookplates. SBA.502
  • Missing information: Leaves can be missing or misbound. Catchwords and a knowledge of bibliographical format can be used to detect missing and misbound leaves. ABS.1.81.127.
  • Manuscript annotations: Contemporary readers interacted with their books, making handwritten notes of what they thought of the book, and what they were able to learn from it. SBA.277
  • Armorial and fine bindings: Can be described and searching through genre terms. Bdg.l.32 and Bdg.s.3.

Printed and online reference sources

  1. General
    • Carter, John. 'ABC for book collectors'. London, 1952
    • 'Descriptive cataloguing of rare books'. 2nd ed. Washington, 1991
    • Examples to accompany Descriptive cataloguing of rare books. Chicago, 1999
    • Gaskell, Phillip. 'An introduction to bibliography'. Oxford, 1972
    • Glaister, Geoffrey Ashall. 'Encyclopaedia of the book'. London, 1960
    • 'Guidelines for the cataloguing of rare books'. London, 1997
    • Sayce, R A. 'Compositorial practices and the localization of printed books 1530-1800'. Oxford, 1979
    • Bibliographic description
      www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/essays/editorial/editorial.html
    • See also: Rare books for beginners
  2. Cataloguing — general
  3. Cataloguing — authority control/thesauri
  4. Cataloguing — MARC code lists
  5. Cataloguing — Place names
  6. Calendars
  7. Deciphering
  8. Descriptive Cataloguing of Rare Books (DCRB)
  9. English Short Title Catalogue (ESTC)
  10. Catalogues
    • Pollard, A W and Redgrave, G R. 'A Short-title Catalogue of Books printed in England, Scotland, and Ireland and of English Books printed abroad 1475-1640'. 2nd ed., London 1986. ('STC')
    • Wing, Donald. 'Short-title Catalogue of Books printed in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and British America and of English Books printed in other countries 1641-1700'. 2nd ed. New York 1994. ('Wing')
    • 'Early English Books Online' (EEBO)
      Full text access — subscription required) —
      visit http://eebo.chadwyck.com/home
    • 'Eighteenth Century Collections Online' (ECCO)
      Full text access — subscription required —
      see our ECCO information page for more, or visit www.gale.com/EighteenthCentury/
  11. Rare books librarianship (with a Scottish slant)
    The amount published on bibliography and book history is vast and most of these works contain useful bibliographies that will offer numerous other titles. However, works dedicated to printing history in Scotland are very thin on the ground, though the history of the book in Scotland projects should go some way to addressing this gap. Journals offer a treasure trove of interesting work on Scottish subjects, especially 'Records of the Glasgow Bibliographical Society', 'Edinburgh Bibliographical Society Transactions' and the 'Bibliotheck'.

    • Aldis, Harry G. 'The Printed Book'. Cambridge, 1916.
    • Aldis, Harry G. 'A list of books printed in Scotland before 1700'. Edinburgh, 1970. (revised ed.)
    • Aldis, Harry G. 'The book-trade, 1557-1625' in 'The Cambridge History of English Literature'. Vol.iv (1909).
    • Carter, J and Muir, P H. 'Printing and the Mind of Man: a descriptive catalogue illustrating the impact of print on the evolution of Western civilization during five centuries'. London, 1967.
    • Dickson, Robert and Edmond, John Philip. 'Annals of Scottish Printing, from the introduction of the art in 1507 to the beginning of the seventeenth century'. Cambridge, 1890.
    • Durkan, John and Ross, Anthony. 'Early Scottish Libraries'. Glasgow, 1961
    • Hillyard, Brian. 'Scottish bibliography for the period ending 1801' in Peter Davison ed., 'The Book Encompassed'. Cambridge, 1992. pp.182-192.
    • Mann, Alastair. 'The Scottish Booktrade, 1500-1720'. East Lothian, 2000.
    • Aldis online
      www.nls.uk/catalogues/resources/scotbooks/
    • Gazetteer for Scotland
      www.geo.ed.ac.uk/scotgaz/
    • Scottish Book Trade Index
      www.nls.uk/catalogues/resources/sbti
  12. Conservation
    • Bookbinding and conservation
      http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/don/toc/toc1.html
    • Clarkson book supports, display pillows and snakes can be bought from:

      Conservation by Design
      Timecare Works
      5 Singer Way
      Woburn Road Industrial Estate
      Kempston
      Bedford
      MK42 7AW

      For (re)binding, etc.:

      Riley, Dunn & Wilson
      Glasgow Road
      Falkirk
      FK1 4HP
      Tel: 01324 621591
      www.rdw.co.uk

      or

      Tom Valentine
      Carronvale Bindery
      18 Main Street
      Larbert
      FK5 3AW
      Tel: 01324 552247

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