Advanced Manuscript Encoding

A Sample Manuscript Page

A sample manuscript page illustrating various MS features.

Handwriting Identification

To identify the person whose handwriting is present, and also to provide information about the handwriting (what style, what ink, etc.)

• <handNote> in the TEI header gives a place to locate this information
• the @hand attribute allows you to associate a specific hand with an addition or deletion
• the <handShift> element lets you mark transitions between handwritings

Accounting for certain individual characters

Several small but useful elements for representing the details (often single characters) of certain kinds of manuscript markings and notations:

• for representing the individual mark or letter that represents an abbreviation, and the specific characters that correspond to it in an expansion: <am> and <ex>
• for representing the function of specific marks of punctuation (especially useful in cases where the function is different from modern usage): <pc>

Complex representation of documentary surfaces

Manuscript image with documentary markup annotations

Using coordinates for zones

You can also use coordinates to define specific zones on a surface, and then use these to focus on a specific region of an image file

Note also the Image Markup tool

Surfaces, Zones, Lines

A manuscript page showing the <surface> area, some <zone>s, and a few <line>s

Patches — facsimile

a manuscript page with a patch that is real, but has been separated, and is simulated in place

same page, no patch

Patches — encoding

Thanks to Nancy Heywood of the MA Hx Soc for the transcription.

Markup of Markup

close-up of portion of facsimlile

Another sample

Izzie was here first / David was here second