Title reproduction

Umbrella article: Titles

1 Reproduction of the main title

The title is a crucial element of the bibliographical description. Each description contains at least one title, the main title, while a description does not necessarily contain an author, a printer or an exact date. For the rare parallel title, the same rules apply as for the main title but the parallel title is usually much more condensed or shortened than the main title.

1.1 Normal cases

1.1.1 General rules

The title is transcribed.
The first 5 words of the title are always retained
The syntactical structure of the title needs to be valid.
Unnecessarily long titles are shortened (following the name of this project and the long tradition of Short Title Catalogues). An irrelevant opening at the beginning of a title such as 'Ad maiorem Dei gloriam' or 'Soli Deo gloria' is automatically dropped without justification.
The Latin genitive of an author is not included in the title unless its omission has problematic consequences. If the title page contains two works by two different authors, the names are retained for the sake of clarity.
Example
Theognidis Sententiæ elegiacæ selectæ et Pythagoræ Avrea carmina
In shortening the title, such words as 'vande' may be split into 'van' and 'de' to achieve a more elegant result. In normal circumstances (where we do not shorten), 'vande' or 'van de' is transcribed literally, exactly as it is found on the title page.
Example
Ter gelegentheyt van het huwelyck vande zeergeleerde, voortreffelycke, edelachtbare en edelmoedige heer, de heer Christoffel van Schellingen ... becomes:
Ter gelegentheyt van het huwelyck van [...] de heer Christoffel van Schellingen

The same is true for particles in another language; they may be split if necessary even if that results in a different spelling. For example, the French 'du' can be split into 'de le' after which one of those parts may be replaced by '[...]'. However, extreme caution must be used in applying this rule so that it does not complicate the searchability of the title too much.

Example
Les aventures du reverendissime pere, le pere Jean Paquot becomes:
Les aventures de [...] Jean Paquot
Attention needs to be paid when shortening a title, that it differs enough from other, similar titles. This is particularly true for placards and ordinances.
In shortening a title, attention needs to be paid that the necessary information about the work is retained. For travel narratives the name of the traveller and the travel destination need to be retained; for occasional writings the type of occasion and names; for theses the name of the student and their supervisor, the place and the date; for government publications the administrative body, the date of issuance and the subject; for auction catalogues the name of the collector and the seller.
The alternative title (sometimes also called subtitle) is always quoted. The alternative title is usually prefaced by wordings such as 'dat is', 'ofte', 'sive' and so on.
Example

An alternative title prefaced by 'ofte'
[Pretere, de, Guillaume], Catechismus ofte Christelycke leeringh
Example
An alternative title prefaced by 'dat is'

Cornelius Hazart, Ghebovwsel sonder grondt dat is Calvinisten gheloof sonder Schriftvre

1.1.2 Transcription of the main title

In reducing from upper case to lower case, each letter is retained. Therefore 'NIEVVE' becomes 'nievve'.
The actual ligatures æ, œ, Æ and Œ are transcribed as such. Other ligatures are resolved.
The 'et'-ligature (&, ＆, ﹠, ⅋, ...) is always transcribed as '&' (ampersand).
The combination of 2 V's is retained, both in upper and in lower case. When the combination 'VV' or 'vv' is meant to suggest 'W' or respectively 'w' by re-cutting one of the letters, the letter is noted as 'W' or respectively 'w'.
Variant letter forms are not distinguished. The long ſ is displayed as a normal 's' and ß as 'ss', also in German.
The capital letter 'I', used for a double 'ii' or 'ij' in Latin genitive forms, is retained. Example: 'Ivsti LipsI defensio postuma'.
Abbreviations are generally retained. A number of common abbreviations indicated by a titulus are resolved between square brackets: 'vandê' becomes 'vande[n]', 'VÂ' becomes 'va[n]', '-q.' as 'q[ue]' and '-ũ' as '-u[m]'. When in doubt about the correct solution, the abbreviation is transcribed literally.
The gothic (blackletter) capitals I/J and U/V are always read and reduced as I/i and V/v.
Cursive is not distinguished.
In the transcription of Greek all ligatures, abbreviations, and so on are written in full. In reducing Greek capitals, accents and the spiritus are dropped. The iota subscripta (ῃ, ῳ) is placed after the η or ω. The 'Σ' at the end of a word becomes 'ς'.
→ William H. Ingram, 'The ligatures of early printed Greek', in Greek, Roman and Byzantine studies 7 (1966), p. 371-389.
Transcription of Greek characters
The presence of staves with music notation is mentioned between square brackets and not transcribed further. This is also true for the accompanying text.
A e-cedille (ȩ) is always transcribed as 'æ'.
German comma's ( / ) are always transcribed as a comma, never as a slash.

1.1.3 Capital letters

Capital letters are reduced as often as possible.
Functional capital letters (proper names, start of the sentence) are retained. The 'natural use' of capital letters in the language of the title is followed as much as possible: therefore, a nationality, national language, ... will or will not receive a capital letter depending on the language of the title.
Example
Dialogen in het Frans en Nederlands = Dialogues en français et néerlandais

Words derived from a proper name retain the capital letter in Latin. If this concerns an author indication, the author in such a case is recorded under its main form, with 'document' as source.

Example

Title: Opera omnia Vergiliana

Author: Vergilius Maro, Publius (main form)

Names of countries, regions, people/nations, nationalities and languages themselves retain the capital letter in Latin. However, adjectives in Latin based on nationalities and languages are spelled with a lower case letter.

Example
Epistolae romanae = De Romeinse brieven

In German, nouns retain their capital letter.

Example
Iudocus Andries, Nothwendige Wissenschaft zur Seeligkeit [...] in zwey-und fünfftzig Figuren fürgehalten
The capital letter at the start of the alternative title is retained. Beware: words like 'ofte' do not always preface an alternative title and are therefore not always followed by a capital letter!
Example: alternative title

Franciscus de Sales, Adriaen van Meerbeeck [trl.], Aen-leydinghe oft Onderwys tot een devoot godt-vruchtigh leven, Ghendt, Ian vanden Kerckhove, 1630
Example: 'ofte' used as conjunction

Belydinge van de seven pointen ofte artikelen des geloofs, Brussel, Lambert Marchand, 1673
The capital letter of a quoted title is retained. A quoted title is a title that is quoted within a main title. Onze Vader, Pater noster, Ave Maria and Wees gegroet are also considered quoted titles.
Example
Arnovt van Gelvwe, Zee-brandt om te verdrijven alle de archlistighe zeemonsters [...] oft Een schrift-matighe verdedinghe van het Catholyck memorie-boeck, teghen Pieter Cabeljaus Nieuw-ghereformeerde memorie-boeck, Antwerpen, Michiel Cnobbaert, 1663
No capital letters are added, except for one specific case: at the start of a main title, a lower case letter needs to be changed into a capital letter. If the first words of the main title is a reduced article, then the second word receives a capital letter.
Omissions: rule 3
One-letter-abbreviations retain their capital letter, abbreviations consisting of more than one letter do not. 'H.' therefore remains 'H.' while 'HH.' is transcribed as 'hh.'. The same is true for the abbreviations 'st.' and 'ste.' (for 'sint' and 'sinte') and the abbreviation 'fr.' (for 'Frater'); they are reduced to lower case unless they are at the start of a sentence. Consecutive one-letter-abbreviations, such as for example 'R.D.' retain the capital letters. In other abbreviations, the letters in superscript are always transcribed on the line.
French, English and Latin titles that are abbreviated, retain the capital letters, even if the abbreviation is more than one letter long. 'Mr.', 'Mme', 'Mrs' and 'Dom.' are thus retained. If, however, these titles are written out in full, then any potential capital letters are reduced to lower case: 'monsieur', 'dominus'. Dutch titles, abbreviated or not, are always written in lower case.
Church societies, ecclesiastical movements and their followers lose their capital letters: christenen, christelyck, christianus, joodse, judaica, jansenisten, jezuïeten, ... (however: 'societas Iesv'). Names of days and feasts (except Christmas and Easter) lose their capital letter (sacramentsdag, ascensio Domini), except when they are proper names (sint Maartensdag) or derived from other words that explicitly retain their capital letter.
Retain their capital letters: Oude Testament, Nieuw Testament, Heilige Schrift, H. Schriftuere, God, Deus, onze lieve Heer (except when followed by 'Jesus Christus'), onze lieve Vrouw, Diva Virgo, H. Roomse Rijk, onze Vader, H. Land, Heilig Land, H. Evangelie; het Brugse Vrije, het land vanden Vryen, het land van Waes, Raad van Vlaanderen, Staten-Generaal, ...
Lose their capital letters: bijbel, heilige waterdoop, psalm, nationale synode, paus, bisschop (and other ecclesiastical and worldly authorities), de heilige geest (however: de H. geest), antichrist, H. sacrificie (and the like), onze heer zalichmaker Jesus Christus, diva virgo Maria, derivations of God: godvruchtig, godsaligh, goddelijk (and the like), 'de landen van herwaerts over', 'les pays de pardeça', ...

1.1.4 Omissions

Omissions at the start of a title (for example author's name in genitive or invocation such as 'Jesus, Maria, Jozef'), or at the end of a title, are not explained.
Omissions in the middle of a main title are justified with '[...]'.
Articles at the beginning of a title abbreviated by an apostrophe, are reduced to lower case; the second word then has to start with a capital letter, even though the title page gives a lower case letter. It is only in this specific case that a lower case letter needs to be changed into a capital letter.
Capital letters: rule 5

1.1.5 Parentheses () and square brackets []

All types of brackets present on the title page, are recorded in the bibliographical description with round brackets (parentheses).
Editorial round brackets (parentheses) are only present in the title when the omission of the part indication in the main title is impossible or undesirable. The first case happens when the part indication has a close syntactic connection with the rest of the title. Omitting could be undesirable when the part indication is the start of the title or when the parts of a multi-volume work need to be described separately.
Editorial square brackets are used in 4 instances:
- to complete defects
Defects: rules 1-2
- to indicate a date to be filled in by hand
Defects: rule 3
- to resolve abbreviations with a titulus (e.g. 'va[n]de')
Transcription of the main title: rule 7
- to indicate a blatant mistake in the original text by marking it (with '[!]')
Mistakes

1.1.6 Line endings

Line endings are neglected.
Words split over two lines are transcribed in full, without hyphen, unless the hyphen may also be used if the word were written on one line.

1.1.7 Numbers

Roman numerals are normalised: '( I )' or '∞' become 'M', an 'I' followed by a 'Ɔ' (reversed C) becomes 'D'. Also 'I C' where it is clearly meant to be 'D', is transcribed as 'D', with a clarifying general note. In all other cases, the numerals are transcribed literally.
The used capital letters or lower case letters and the full stops are retained, the spaces in between are omitted. Full stops after Roman and Arabic numerals and dates are retained, unless at the end of a title.

1.1.8 Mistakes

Blatant mistakes may be marked with a '[!]' after the words, preceded and followed by a space.
Brackets: rule 3

1.1.9 Defects

Defects in the title caused by damage are completed if possible. This is indicated in a general note if it concerns the only described copy, and in a copy-specific annotation if there are multiple copies.
Defects in the title caused by a misprint are retained. They are followed by a '[!]'. In a grouping title, the mistake is corrected to improve searchability.
Deliberate omissions meant to be completed by hand, for example part of a date, are indicated by a space between square brackets: '[ ]'. Potential additions by hand are indicated in a general note.
Example

In scenam dabitur a studiosa juventute gymnasii societatis Jesu Antverpiæ die [ ] septembris 1688

General note: The date filled in by hand: 'die [9] septembris'

Brackets: rule 3

1.1.10 Corrections

For corrections made by pasting over, by hand, or by stamping, and so on, the correction is transcribed. The corrected element of the description and the correction method are mentioned in a general note.

1.1.11 Imitation of epigraphy

Titles in capital letters where each word is followed by a full stop (imitation of Latin inscriptions) are reduced to lower case and transcribed without the full stops.
Numbers (for Latin dates)

1.1.12 Spacing

Spaces meant to be there are transcribed. In the fingerprint, a space is represented by a dollar sign: $.

If spaces are lacking where they really should be, this is signalled by a '[!]' after the conjoined words.

Spaces not meant to be there are transcribed. The second part of the split word is followed by '[!]'.

Apostrophes (for spaces in combination with apostrophes)

1.1.13 Apostrophes and abbreviations

For fixed connections of reduced articles and prepositions, spaces are ignored. For example: dleven, d'heren.
For shortened words and looser connections, a given space before or after the apostrophe is retained.
In French and Italian words, spaces are never given after apostrophes. For example: De l'inquisition; dell'ingenioso hidalog.
For words that are abbreviated in the title, the following transcription rules apply:
- If there is a full stop between a number of letters or under a number of letters in superscript or if there is no full stop at all, then a full stop is placed where letters were omitted in the abbreviation.
Example
B^on (for 'baron') becomes 'b.on', M^t (for 'majesteit') becomes 'm.t', S^ṛ (for 'sœur') becomes 's.r'
- If there is a full stop after the abbreviation (on the line or superscript), then the full stop is retained at that place.
Examples
Ma^t. (for 'majesteit') becomes 'mat.', Jo^e. (for 'joffrouwe') becomes 'joe.'
- Abbreviations with a titulus or horizontal line above them, or other unusual methods of abbreviation, are represented with a full stop after the abbreviation.
Examples
d̅n̅s becomes 'dns.' and s̅o̅c̅t̅i̅s becomes 'soctis.'

1.1.14 Years written in full

Years written in full sometimes have too many or too little spaces between the parts. The actual situation is transcribed.

1.1.15 Accents

Accents and other diacritical marks in Latin alphabets are transcribed where possible with a common character set (iso-latin-1). This means that, for example, it is possible to record an a with a tilde (ã), but not an e with a tilde. When the combination is not possible, the accent is simply omitted. This is also true for accents on capital letters if the capital letter is retained.
Accents, tituli and other frequent abbreviation signs that can be resolved, are not retained.
Accents that are placed after a letter are, if possible, placed in the correct spot above the letter during transcription, and otherwise omitted.
Example
CIVILITE' becomes civilité

1.2 Special cases

1.2.1 (Parts of) multi-volume works

Multi-volume works are usually placed in one bibliographical description. The quire structure reflects the number of parts and the information about pagination, quire structure and fingerprint is presented per volume in a separate field.

In titles of these kind of works, the indication of the part may be dropped, or if for whatever reason it cannot be dropped, then the part indication may be completed between round brackets (parentheses). In that case, the completion is preceded by a dash and placed between round brackets, each time with a space between the different elements.

Example

The part indication is hard to omit and therefore completed:
Carolvs Scribani, Hieronymus Wierx [ill.], Het eerste (-tweede) deel der Meditatien, Antwerpen, Ioach. Trognesius, 1613
Quire structure: 2 volumes
1# *-3*⁸ A-Y⁸ Z⁴ 2A-2G⁸

2# a-2b⁸

In a number of instances, each volume does get its own separate bibliographical description: when not all volumes are available, or, when the titles of the individual volumes differ substantially. We also do this when different parts are printed by different printers. The part indication is retained in the title if possible, which is useful since it immediately indicates to the user the existence of other volumes.

A part indication such as 'Part 1' is never added by a cataloguer to the main title. A clarification, if needed, may be placed in a general note. The link to the whole is evident in the grouping title, where a common title is given, followed by an editorial part indication.
Reproduction of the grouping title

1.2.2 Government publications

Three elements are crucial for government publications:

The issuing authority
The geopolitical entity
The date of issue

If at all possible, these elements are retained in the main title. The title for this type of publication will generally be much longer than usual. If the above named elements are not present on the title page, they will usually still be recorded in the bibliographical description, with as source-indication 'document' or 'external'. This is especially true for the issuing authority (corporate author) and the date of issue (extension field of the filing title).
Filing title (for the choice of issue date) Unlike the STCN, no coded indication is recorded for the geopolitical entity to which the government publication pertains.

If one or more of these elements cannot be processed in the bibliographical description, it is possible to write a separate general note for each of these. This is unnecessary if the information is already present in the title or another field. If it is unclear who was responsible for the publication (or potentially to which area it pertained), this can be further explained in a general note where it is possible to enter in more detail than in the field of, for example, a corporate author. An example could be ordinances that are issued on a given date but then added to at a number of later instances and then reissued. If the date of issue cannot be ascertained, then this is explained in a general note.

Examples of general notes for government publications

Issued by the Raad van State 14-02-1635 and amplified 28-04-1670
Date of issue not stated

Renewed 31-08-1643

1.2.3 Titles in non-Latin alphabets

There are two groups of titles in non-Latin alphabets that we distinguish: titles in Greek alphabets and titles in other alphabets (so non-Latin, non-Greek alphabets).

Titles in the Greek alphabet are entered as Greek letters with the help of codes or with the Greek arrangement of the keyboard. A grouping title is added where the Greek titles is transcribed into the Latin alphabet according to the rules.
Transcription of Greek characters If the title page contains a title in Latin or Greek alphabet, additional titles in other alphabets (Cyrillic, Hebrew, etc.) are dropped. The presence of these other titles is mentioned in a general note.

If the additional titles contain relevant additional information, they are transcribed into the Latin alphabets and the situation is explained in a general note.

If it is just words or parts of words in a non-Latin/non-Greek alphabet and they cannot be omitted, then they are transcribed. The situation is explained in a general note.

If the title is only available on the title page in a non-Latin/non-Greek alphabet, then the title is transcribed into the Latin alphabet and the situation is explained in a general note.

2 Reproduction of the grouping title

The transcription of the grouping title follows, as much as possible, the transcription rules of the main title. If convenient, the cataloguer may deviate from these rules, for example when the title of the original work (in the case of a translation) is unknown or only know from secondary information. If necessary, the cataloguer may come up with their own grouping title. In that case, there are no spelling rules.

Sometimes only a part of the source work is translated or reissued. In those case, the grouping title is ended with a full stop, followed by a space and then the indication of the parts, in STCV's editorial language (English). This part indication always starts with a capital letter.

This type of grouping title may also be necessary for multi-volume works of which not all volumes are present or where the part titles are significantly different. The grouping title is derived from the first volume or from an earlier edition.It is followed by a full stop and a space, and then the editorial part indication. This indication starts with a capital letter. In exceptional cases, when the work consists of more than 9 volumes, it may be useful to use 2 figures to achieve a correct order for sorting. The first part then receives the indication 'Part 01'.
(Parts of) multi-volume works

3 Reproduction of the uniform title, the filing title and the parallel title

The uniform title is taken from the (uniform) title thesaurus and consists of a code; the same is true for popular anonymous works and liturgical works.
Bible books Popular anonymous works Liturgical works

The filing title is coded as <ORD> for government publications, <THE> for theses and <PER> for periodicals, <ALM> for almanacs and <AUC> for auction catalogues.

The parallel titles are transcribed according to the rules of the main title. The crucial difference with parallel titles is that, since they essentially contain hardly any additional information, they are shortened much more than the main title.
Transcription rules (main title)