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News of interest to all of us who work with early printed books! A. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 17 Feb 1995 16:01:05 -0500 From: Germaine Warkentin <[log in to unmask]> To: Multiple recipients of list FICINO <[log in to unmask]> Subject: News from ISTC 1995 (Long message) [x-post] Cross-posted from ExLibris: > > *** PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CROSS-POST *** > > N E W S F R O M I S T C > > F E B R U A R Y 1 9 9 5 > > > Since our last newsletter of Autumn 1993, the British > Library's Incunable Short-Title Catalogue has made steady > progress on a number of fronts towards its aim of > recording all fifteenth-century printing. At 1 January > 1995 the database recorded 26,767 items. The breakdown of > the figures may be of interest: 25,342 of these separate > editions are strictly datable to the fifteenth century, > meaning that 1,425 are post-incunabula, retained in the > database (but easily separated out in searching) in > virtue of having been classed as incunabula by at least > some bibliographers since Hain. Of the genuine > incunabula, 1,347 are items of single-sheet printing > (format 'Bdsde' in ISTC). Since a good proportion of what > is now entering the database is indeed broadside > material, it looks as if the tally of substantial > fifteenth-century editions will eventually settle at > around 27-28,000. > The major development in the course of 1994 has been > preparation for the Incipit CD-ROM, detailed below. But > we continue to add a good deal of information to the > database, in the areas particularly of location > information and new bibliographical references. The > essentials of three major European catalogues-the union > catalogues of Hungary, Poland and Spain-have now been > almost entirely entered, and work is in hand on the > registration of Portuguese collections (in the first > place, the Biblioteca Nacional). We are also entering > systematically the complete collections of facsimile > pages in the Gesellschaft fur Typenkunde and Type > Facsimile Society series (GfT and TFS). Ready reference > to a large set of facsimiles-in effect indexing them for > the first time-should facilitate identification of many > difficult editions. > Parallel to development of the CD-ROM with page- > images, the ISTC text database continues to be available > online on the British Library's BLAISE-LINE service, and > on PICA in Europe and the RLIN Books file in North > America. RLIN has also been selected to host a major new > enterprise, the Hand Press Book Database of the > Consortium of European Research Libraries. This will > eventually establish an online record of all European > printing until about 1830. It is hoped that ISTC will be > loaded as one of the constituents of the database, > searchable separately or as part of an edited union file, > by the end of 1995. > > Incipit > In January 1994, ISTC entered a new phase of development. > With funding from the Libraries Programme of the > Commission of the European Communities, the British > Library has formed a partnership with five European > libraries and the commercial publisher Research > Publications International, with the goal of publishing > ISTC on CD-ROM. > The project, known as Incipit, was inaugurated at > Oxford on 18 January 1994, and will run for two years. > The partner libraries are: The British Library; the > Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Rome; Bibliotheque > Royale/Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Brussels; Consiglio > Nazionale delle Ricerche, Rome; Instituto da Biblioteca > Nacional e do Livro, Lisbon; and Koninklijke Bibliotheek, > The Hague. A second meeting to review progress so far and > to plan future coverage was held at Lisbon, 23-24 January > 1995. > The role of the partner libraries is to enhance the > existing ISTC database with information which it cannot > provide in its current on-line form, namely, images of > pages. Project Incipit collects existing and specially- > produced microfilm of incunabula and converts it into > digital form on a microfilm scanner. These images are > then linked with their corresponding ISTC records on the > CD-ROM, and can be searched and viewed just like ISTC > records. > The partner libraries are choosing and filming only > bibliographically key pages from each edition. These > images will, it is hoped, take the place of traditional > textual transcriptions, and thus simplify the process of > bibliographic identification and description. In > addition, a database combining both ISTC and images of > printed pages will make the comprehensive study and > comparison of typefaces, as well as of non-typographical > elements, layout and design, a real possibility for the > first time. > Partner libraries have been filming and scanning > incunable pages since January 1994. In this first year, > each library has concentrated on selecting editions > representing its own national or linguistic area. In the > coming year, the partners hope also to select editions on > broader, more thematic lines, in order to test how well > the disk can help in comparative research. Numerous > editions of the same author or text will be collected, > besides as much Greek and Hebrew printing as possible. > While the partner libraries are contributing most of > the microfilm, the CEC hopes Incipit can request > microfilm from other libraries as well, especially in the > case of rare or little known editions. > Incipit passed a major milestone on 20 December 1994, > with the release of a draft CD-ROM, known as CD-ROM 1. > This will be distributed to around forty libraries and > other institutions in the spring of 1995, in order to > elicit comments and suggestions for the future. CD-ROM 2, > another draft, will be released in the autumn of 1995. > The final disk before the project becomes a fully > commercial venture is expected in 1996. > Incipit is a Windows-based application. Search terms > and field names will be familiar to users of ISTC. On the > other hand, the graphic layout and design of Windows, > with its text boxes, menus and mouse, is an innovation > which should after further refinement make the records > and images easy to search and display. > In addition, the partner libraries and Research > Publications are discussing ways in which the Windows > environment and the multimedia capabilities of CD-ROM may > expand and enhance the database further. It may be > possible, for example, to use hypertext to link ISTC > records to other databases of information, for instance > dossiers on printers or printing towns. Also under > discussion is a 'sensitive map' (derived from those > developed on the World Wide Web) in which individual > printing towns, or whole areas of printing, could be > selected and searched. > These issues will be explored in more detail in 1995. > Filming and scanning will continue, with opportunities to > refine and improve the technical standards of the > project. It is hoped that Incipit will not only publish > the CD-ROM, but also establish helpful standards for > other projects which may use the same technology in the > future. > The British Library has appointed a curator, Miss > Margaret Meserve, to act as Incipit's project manager, > while Dr Lotte Hellinga supervises the project as Project > Coordinator. If you would like to volunteer to test the > Incipit CD-ROM 1 in the spring or summer of 1995, please > contact Miss Meserve at ISTC. > > Incunabula: The Printing Revolution in Europe > The Incunabula project, providing full text of selected > incunabula on microfiche, is continuing apace. Four units > covering all Italian printing before 1472 will be > published in early 1995, with introduction by Professor > Luigi Balsamo. This brings the total of published units > to ten. Three units with medical incunabula are in > preparation for publication in 1995, to be issued with an > introduction by Mr Peter Jones, Librarian of King's > College, Cambridge. Further units are on the drawing > board. This project is published by Research Publications > in conjunction with the British Library, and is highly > dependent on the good will and support of colleagues in > other collections. > > North America > Martin Davies completed the five year period of > sponsorship to bring ISTC records for North America up to > date with visits to New England in Autumn 1993 and to the > South in June 1994. Collections checked on the ground > include the important holdings of Williams College > (Chapin Library), Dartmouth College and Emory University, > Atlanta. Dr Davies took part, as usual, in the annual > Rare Books and Manuscripts preconference in Miami in June > 1994, giving there a seminar paper. Among other > enhancements of the US records we have in the past year > received revisions of the Princeton holdings (University > Library and Scheide) and made a start on wholesale entry > of references to James Walsh's new Harvard catalogue. > There will be a continuing need to keep North > American records up to date, and also to investigate some > of the smaller collections so far untouched by ISTC > visits or surveys. An application has been submitted to > the National Endowment for the Humanities by Professor > Henry Snyder of the University of California with a view > to providing support for a small network of > bibliographers on the ground who will be responsible for > future reporting of N/A holdings. > > United Kingdom and Ireland > The coverage of libraries in the British Isles has seen a > small but important extension to the holdings recorded. > We should particularly like to thank librarians at > Holkham Hall (Norfolk), Manchester Central Library, St > Patrick's College, Maynooth, and the National Library of > Ireland, Archbishop Marsh's Library and the King's Inns, > Dublin for their assistance during the past year. > > Germany > Reinhard Horn and Gertrud Friedl are continuing the > important work of the census of incunabula in Germany. > This is now carried out with an updated version of the > Advanced Revelation program, installed on PCs at the > Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich, in Autumn 1993. One > hundred German collections have been completely > incorporated over the past year, and a further forty- > eight are practically complete. In addition to these > collections, all the copies listed in the third volume, > published in 1993, of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek > Inkunabelkatalog have been added to ISTC. A comprehensive > listing is also in progress for the reunited > Staatsbibliothek in Berlin. Dr Horn and Frau Friedl > delivered papers on the Inkunabel-census at the Tuebingen > Symposium 'Handschriften, Alte Drucke' in October 1994. > > > Italy > Italian locations as held in the IGI files were entered > in ISTC during 1993 on the PC version of ISTC installed > at the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Rome. The IGI > material dates back in some cases to the 1930s. Given the > very wide distribution of old books in Italy and the lack > of systematic cataloguing of many collections, it was to > be expected that many locations of incunabula would stand > in need of amendment. Some 850 libraries were therefore > sent printed lists of their catalogued books for checking > against actual holdings at the end of 1993. > About 60% of the collections have so far responded, > bringing to light a good deal of new material regarding > both libraries (for example, seminaries and other small > institutions which no longer exist) and the incunabula > themselves. Against some dozens of copies not now > forthcoming (through acts of war, theft, etc.), several > hundred new copies have surfaced. The case of the 215 > incunabula at the Biblioteca Civica of Palazzolo > sull'Oglio, which was not covered by IGI, is particularly > striking. > Among the major collections checked in the course of > 1994 are the Ambrosiana of Milan, the Biblioteca > Nazionale of Milan and the Casanatense in Rome, each with > around 2,000 incunabula. Updated records of the > Biblioteca Nazionale of Florence are expected in early > 1995, and most other substantial collections will have > completed the process of checking in the course of the > year. > > Russia > A formal agreement by the British Library to assist the > progress of the incunabula catalogue of the National > Library of Russia (formerly the Saltykov-Shchedrin Public > Library, now listed as St Petersburg NL) was signed in > 1994. This agreement anticipated exchange of data between > the National Library and ISTC, and we have made a start > on incorporating the parts of the catalogue so far > published into the database. Generous funding from the > British Academy is allowing Miss Ekaterina Medvedeva of > the National Library to spend some five weeks in London > at the beginning of 1995. This will give her the > opportunity to get thoroughly acquainted with our > methodology and make the personal connections which are > all-important in the successful co-operation of > institutions. > > Hebrew > Dr Adri Offenberg is continuing his visits as consultant > to the British Library where he is preparing Volume XIII > of BMC on the Library's Hebrew incunabula (see his > articles in The Library, 16 (1994), 43-49 and 298-315). > There are plans to join forces with the Bodleian Library > in the publication of this volume of BMC, since the > collections can fruitfully be considered to complement > one another. Dr Offenberg's work is also bringing direct > benefits to ISTC's recording of Hebraica. The records for > Hebrew incunabula, hitherto segregated following the > style of Goff, are to be disposed in the general > alphabetical sequence in 1995 with his amendments. The > books will still be easily picked out by the language > code 'Heb'. > > > > Other > French editions and French locations have continued to > grow with the incorporation of Vols X-XI of the > Catalogues regionaux series and of the new volume of the > Bibliotheque Nationale catalogue. There are now just over > 6,000 editions registered as being at the BN, and some > 9,000 in France as a whole, though much remains to be > done. Reference numbers of the national censuses of > Poland (IBP), Hungary (Sajo-Soltesz) and Spain (IBE) have > been added to the bibliographical references en bloc, > though not in all cases with systematic entry of > locations in those countries. Work has begun on entering > the major holdings of Prague libraries (National Museum > and National Library). We are continuing to receive help > from Dra Regula Rohland de Langbehn on collections in > Argentina, and hope shortly to co-operate in a new survey > of the holdings of the Biblioteca Nacional, Mexico. > Contributions have also been received from the National > Library, Valletta, Malta and the New South Wales State > Library in Sydney. > The editing and indexing of ISTC records for the > forthcoming Incunabula of the Low Countries, edited by > Gerard van Thienen and John Goldfinch, has been completed > and publication is expected in 1995. In Japan, Koichi > Yukishima of Waseda University, Tokyo, has completed a > revised census of incunabula in Japan based on ISTC and > this too is to be published shortly. > > Recent Publications > > Pasqualino Avigliano, 'L'IGI e la base dati ISTC', > Bollettino AIB, 34:3 (1994), 333-38 > > Lotte Hellinga, 'European Automation Projects', in > Bibliologia e informatica. Giornata di studio, Napoli, > Istituto 'Suor Orsola Benincasa', 26 novembre 1993, ed. > E. Esposito (Ravenna, 1994), pp. 65-74 [on ISTC, Incipit, > the Hand Press Book Database] > > Maria Valentina Sul Mendes, 'Plano de Accao para as > Bibliotecas Europeias e o Envolimento das Bibliotecas > Portuguesas', Cadernos de Biblioteconomia, Arquivistica e > Documentacao, 1994, no. 2, 83-85 [on Incipit]. > > Margaret Meserve, 'Project Incipit' in Digital Imaging. > Concertation Meeting, Luxembourg, 7 November 1994 > (European Commision Libraries Programme, DG XIII, 1994) > > Paolo Veneziani, 'Informatica e incunaboli: dall'IGI ad > una base di dati'. Biblioteche insieme. Gli spazi della > cooperazione. Atti del XXXVIII Congresso nazionale > dell'Associazione Italiana Biblioteche. Rome: 1994, 149- > 56 > > > Incunabula Lotte Hellinga > The British Library Martin Davies > Great Russell Street John Goldfinch > London WC1B 3DG, UK Marcella Leembruggen > Margaret Meserve > > Telephone: [44] 171 412 7579. Fax: [44] 171 412 7736 > (please note new numbers) > Email: [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask] or > [log in to unmask] > ******************************************************************************* Germaine Warkentin [log in to unmask] English, Victoria College, University of Toronto *******************************************************************************