Template for Folio Cataloguing
Last updated
Last updated
Manuscript Folio Shelfmark; Title.
e.g. Ottawa, Carleton University, CUAG, 1996.62.3; Calendar for December from a Book of Hours.
Place (City, Country) of Origin, date of origin. Languages within.
e.g. France, s. XIV. Latin (s. = century, XIV = fourteenth)
I. Contents:
Item A (f. 1-xx, Title of item, ever edited?) them
i. If there are page numbers on the folio, record them, and note if they are in Arabic numerals (1,2, 3) or Roman (I, II, III)
Item B
Item C ….
Conclusions about content of manuscript
II. Physical Description:
Parchment. i. Measurements of size of folio (in cm’s), ii. weight of parchment (thin, medium, think), iii. evidence of trimming or rough edges iv. colour (differences in tone and colour of hair and flesh sides). v. If there is paper, are there watermarks?
Page Layout. i. size of total text space; if text is written in more than one column give the measurements of each column and the space between them (, size of written layout, ii. How many lines of text on a page? How many columns? (e.g. 32 lines x 2 columns) iii. is ruling (borders and line divisions) evident? ruled on both sides/ one side? Ruled in ink or lead (pencil) or just impressed into the parchment? iv. Catchwords? v. folio/ page numbers? where are they located?
Script and Punctuation.
Description of script. Try to identify the script: a Gothic book hand, diplomatic script or cursive (see for examples of different scripts)
Are there majuscule (upper case) and miniscule (lower case) letters. Or only one.
Are the letters straight up and done or more angled (cursive)?
do letters touch together, or are they separated.
Do the S’s look like f’s (a “ſ “)
Are some hands neater than others. Are some parts neater than others of the same hand. ii. What punctuation is present, if any?
are there any letters or abbreviations that stand out to you? Use Cappelli to look for date ranges of abbreviations.
Emendations.
Note where, what kind of and how many emendations have been made. ii.
If someone has added comments (marginal comments/ interlinear comments), or made corrections describe the script. Does it look similar to the script of the main text (i.e. done at the same time) or does it look different (i.e. added later)?
Are words erased, crossed out, written over?
Decoration.
Illuminated initials (gold), historiated initials (letters that contain stories)
images
rubrication (is there a pattern to the rubrication - how are some kinds of rubrics nested inside others).
decorative initials, flourishes, floral designs?
Marginalia?
Imperfections. Stains, tears, holes, cuts, water damage, wearing away, cropping leading to removal of text, removal of text from binding, pages which
III. Provenance/ Provenience
Is there a colophon (i.e. does the scribe sign his work)? Has someone identified the scribe elsewhere?
Evidence from ex libris, paleography etc. which indicates ownership. Was the book expensive or cheap? Who was the reader, owner, patron?
Any indications of institutional ownership – like library codes predating Carleton’s ownership?
Does the folio have a description (from a bookseller, catalogue, library inventory) about it? Transcribe it here and any codes associated with it.
If the folio is described in the ARC/ CUAG inventory list. Transcribe it here.
Summarize any conclusions you can draw from this or from evidence identified in other sections about how the folio came to Carleton.
IV. Bibliography.
are the contents edited in modern critical editions?
is the manuscript/ the content cited in scholarship?
what are useful secondary sources helpful for understanding aspects of the manuscript?
are there photographs of the folio online. Provide URL?
V. Transcription.
note recto or verso, number lines, columns of the two sides of the folio, and provide a complete transcription of the text.