{{umbrella|Author}}
Personal authors are systematically saved in the 'Personenthesaurus' [people thesaurus]. Variant forms of the same personal name are carefully recorded under the same main form. The guiding principle is: '''one person receives one thesaurus record''', regardless of the name variants or pseudonyms they used.
For example, the pseudonym Suivius for Cornelis Hazart is found under the main form 'Hazart, Cornelius'. Manually making a reference from 'Suivius' to 'Hazart' is therefore not necessary anymore thanks to the automatic indexing of both main forms and reference terms.
The source indication for the author '''depends on which title is chosen'''. The table below gives all the possible source-indications.
!Location of the author
!Source-indication
|Typographical title page
|title page
|Engraved title page
|title page if this is the only title page;<br> document if there is also a typographical title page
|Approbation, privilege, ...
|document
|Illustrations within or outside of collation, not on the title page
|document
|Author as adjective in the title
|document
|Bibliographical references, other STCV records, ...
|external
|}
If a typographical title page does not mention an author but the engraved title page does, then that author is recorded by their main form with the source-indication 'document'.
The source where the information was found, determines whether the description records the variant form of the name or only the main form.
If the name is found on the ''title page'', the '''variant form''' (reference term) is always recorded. If it matches the main form of the name, an identical reference term is still created. In that case, a possible alteration of the main form will not affect the specific variant found and recorded in that description.
If the name is found elsewhere in the ''document'' or an ''external source'', the '''main form''' is recorded.
A controlled list of eleven possible functions was determined for the function of the personal author:
|colspan="2"|'''''Primary authors'''''
|aut||Primary author
|colspan="2"|'''''Secondary authors'''''
|adp||Adapter
|com||Compiler
|dis||Dissertant/promovendus/student or defendens (of a thesis)
|dub||Dubious author
|edt||Editor
|hnr||Honorary/passive author
|ill||Illustrator (painter/designer, artist, engraver)
|mus||Musician (composer, performer)
|ths||Thesis advisor/promotor/supervisor (of a thesis)
|trl||Translator
|}
Brocade offers other functions as well (such as collaborator, 'clb', and director, 'drt') but STCV does not use them.
If an author is mentioned twice on a title page, for example as author and as translator or illustrator, we record their '''most important function''' (usually this is 'aut').
For the STCV, the function-indication is more important than the difference between primary or secondary author. In a work that is published for its illustrations (e.g. a collection of engravings with a title page), one could consider the illustrator as 'primary author'. However, the illustrator in this case is indicated as 'ill' to reflect his actual relation to the work. For summaries and adaptations, the summariser or adaptor is also always indicated as such (adp). If known, the original author is always 'primary author' (aut).
Authors and editor of magazines are not 'primary authors' (aut). They receive 'editor' (edt) as function-indication.
For academic disputations, dissertations and theses, STCV diverges from what is common practice in STCN. Despite who the ''actual'' author of the text is, the '''promovendus (defendens/student)''' is always indicated as 'dis', the '''promotor (praeses/supervisor)''' always as 'ths'. If it can be ascertained with certainty who the actual author is, this is clarified in a general note. Neither is therefore named 'primary author' (aut). The promotor (supervisor) must not be confused with the rector magnificus on whose authority ('ex auctoritate') a promotion takes place. The rector magnificus is not recorded in the description. This is not an exception to the rule that all names on the title page are recorded, since the rector has not made a real contribution to the realisation of the text.
For anonymously published travel narratives, the 'traveller' is treated as 'primary author' (aut).
For anonymously published public recitations of orations and poems, the declamator (declaimer/reciter) is treated as 'primary author' (aut).
For a confession or confirmation, such as 'Confessie ofte belijdenisse van Lowijs Gaufridi', for example, Lowijs Gaufridi is recorded as 'primary author' (aut), even though the text might be delivered by a (father) confessor.