Imprint

General

The imprint or printer's address indicates where, by whom and when a publication was delivered. Sometimes it also mentions the function of the deliverer (for convenience's sake called 'printer'): (s)he could have printed, published or only sold the book.

Not every imprint mentions all of these elements: often, the function-indication is missing, sometimes also the name of the printer, the place and/or the year of publication.

For academic publications, the date or place is sometimes mentioned in the title instead of in the imprint. These details are put in the imprint with the source being 'document' (and therefore in the main form), and will also always be included in the title. So they are not perceived of as being part of the imprint. This date will not be mentioned in the fingerprint.

Some imprints mention different printers, and some publications contain multiple imprints: either next to or underneath each other, or in different locations in the book (e.g. on the title page and in the colophon). When both printers appear together, so when there is just one imprint with multiple printers, we look upon this as a partnership. Such a partnership will get a separate authority record in the printer's index.

When it concerns two clearly separate imprints, we opt for multiple 'imprint' fields. This is also the case for two or more printer's joint together by braces ({}).

In exceptional cases, the imprint will also contain additional information. This could be the source language, the author's name or other elements. Any source language mentioned will be put into the 'edition' field, perhaps with an explanatory general note. However, authors are mentioned in the 'imprint' field, even when it simply says 'printed for the author' or 'sumptibus authoris': in this case, this phrasing is taken up as a reference term and the author will get their own authority record in the printer's index.

Regular and Copy Imprints

There are two types of imprints: the 'regular imprint', which is by far the most common, and the rare 'copy imprint'.

The copy imprint is recognisable by such formula as 'Printed after the copy in [place]', 'Printed after the Latin copy, which is printed in [place]', and 'Copy [...]'. Sometimes just the statement 'Printed after the copy' appears without further information. In the latter case, the statement is neglected.

In a small number of cases, it is hard to distinguish between a normal and a copy imprint. In these doubtful cases, the imprint type 'regular' is selected, and the full imprint can be cited in a note.

Special attention needs to be paid to government publications, which were often reprinted with the original imprint intact even when the original printer was no longer active. The type 'copy imprint' is only selected when there is absolute certainty that it is a copy imprint. In such cases, further information is given in a general note. In all doubtful cases, even when there are strong suspicions, the type 'normal' is kept but the doubt is expressed in a general note.

Possible Imprint Locations

An imprint can be found in different places, and these different places may also contain multiple imprints. The most common location is at the bottom of the typographical title page. When there is an engraved title page, this also often has an imprint, usually also at the bottom but sometimes incorporated into some decorative element of the engraving. With multi-volume works, the imprint sometimes only appears on the collective title page. Finally, the imprint is often found in the colophon on the final page or elsewhere at the back of the work.

Printer information outside the imprint

Information about the printer is also regularly found in the privilege or elsewhere in the work, and sometimes this is the only source for printing information (place, printer, function, year, ...). In those cases, there is no real 'imprint' and the source for this information must be labelled as 'document'. The precise location of this information is then given in a general note.

Example Date derived from f. E7 verso (= approbation)

Sometimes information about the printer, place or year of publication can only be found in external sources (e.g. a bibliography). In those cases, the source is mentioned in a bibliographical note. Sometimes we can only estimate a period from the printer's name. This is also mentioned in a general note.

Example Date derived from the printer's period of activity

Even when the imprint is not known because the title page is missing, we can reconstruct an imprint on the basis of other data. A general note then indicates where the information was found:

Example Printer from f. 2T6 verso (= approbation)

Source indication for the imprint

The source indication for the imprint information and the way in which additional data is indicated differs, depending on the choice of title page. In the outline below, all possible source indications are given systematically.

When two different imprints appear in the same location, they are both included and they, of course, receive the same source indication.

Location imprint	Source-indication	Remarks
Collective title page	tp.	Divergent imprint information in note Additional imprints recorded with source 'doc.'/'col.'
Typographical title page	tp.	Divergent imprint information in note Additional imprints recorded with source 'doc.'/'col.'
Engraved title page only	tp.	Additional imprints recorded with source 'doc.'/'col.'
Engraved title page with typographical title page	doc.	Additional imprints recorded with source 'doc.'/'col.'
Printed cover only	tp.	General note: 'Imprint from printed cover' Additional imprints recorded with source 'doc.'/'col.'
Printed cover with other title page	doc.	Additional imprints recorded with source 'doc.'/'col.'
Colophon	col.	Divergent imprint information in note Additional imprints recorded with source 'doc.'/'col.'
Privilege, approbation, ...	doc.	General note: 'Date/Printer from f. x (= [...])'
Bibliographical reference	ext.	Bibliographical reference '... mentions the date/printer'
Period of activity	ext.	General note: 'Date from printer's period of activity"

Multiple Imprint Locations

Multiple imprints in a work

If there are multiple imprints in one work, there are two possibilities: either they are identical, or they are not identical. Two imprints are identical when they offer the same information about the work. Another formulation, a different spelling, a year in Arabic versus in Roman numerals, ... all this offers no new information about the work. A second, identical imprint is left out of consideration. Spelling variants of the printer's name, the adress or the shop sign are however added to the printers' thesaurus or the geographical thesaurus. Misprints in the year of publication are not considered a divergent variant. They are added to the printers' thesaurus, under the form 'YYYY [=YYYY]'.

When a second imprint diverges significantly however, so if it mentions a different printer, a different place and/or a different year than the first imprint, we call this an additional imprint. If it is just a divergent year, we mention this in a general note:

Example

The year in the colophon reads [...]

The year on the engraved title page reads [...]

These years are also added to the printers' thesaurus, but between parentheses: '(YYYY)' or '(col.YYYY)'. Roman numerals are converted to Arabic numerals, unless is concerns a clear mistake (e.g. defective or unsolvable years). In those cases, the year is quoted between single quotation marks and at the end an exclamation mark between square brackets.

When the second imprint contains a different printer and/or place, this additional imprint is added in a second 'imprint' field. If the imprint is found in the colophon, we use the spelling variant as reference term in the description and use the 'colophon' source indication. If the additional divergent imprint is found on the engraved title page, we note the main form in the description (source: 'document'). A general note indicates where the additional imprint was found. If the additional imprint only mentions a different printer, the colophon imprint duplicates the place and the year from the title page, with 'document' as source indication.

Title editions

With title editions, an old imprint is sometimes still visible or - when it has been pasted over for example - it is possible to reconstruct it. An engraved title page from a previous edition is also often taken over without adjustments. In those cases, we take the oldest readable imprint as first imprint, then followed by separate imprint fields for all additional, variant imprints found in the work. The general rules are followed here: imprints from the title page (including paste-overs) and the colophon are recorded as reference terms, imprints from the document and from secondary title pages are recorded as main form.

Each particular situation leads to a separate edition: what counts, is the form in which the work was offered for sale. When encountering a work with a 'normal' imprint, and in a different copy the imprint is pasted over or a title page was added, then two separate database records are created. Is only one copy known, with a pasted-over of additional imprint, then there is just one record: it is impossible to know whether the work was also sold without the added imprint.

Title editions in which the original imprint does but the pasted-over imprint does not correspond to the geographical or chronological boundaries of the STCV are, exceptionally, added after all. The situation is always clearly explained in a general note, mentioning where the additional imprints are found.

Function: choice and reproduction

When the imprint mentions the function of the printer/publisher, this is noted in the bibliographical description. There are seven options:

1. ... Boekverkoper [Bookseller]
2. Te koop bij [Sold by]
3. Uitgegeven door bij/ [Published by]
4. ... Boekdrukker [Printer]
5. Gedrukt bij [Printed by]
6. Gedrukt voor/op kosten van [Printed for/at the expense of]
7. Niet gedefinieerd [Undefined]

Specific function-indications that are not literally present in this list, are reduced to one of the first six options. This is valid for languages other than Latin.

Example
En l'imprimerie de ... becomes [Printed by ...]

Non-Latin mentions of function or address such as 'en la casa de ...', 'in de druckerije van ...' or 'en la empremeria de ...' are not retained, unless the construction makes it impossible to isolate the name of the printer as is the case, for example, with 'in de Plantijnsche drukkerye'.

If there are no function-indications in the imprint or if the only mention is 'bij ...', the option 'Niet gedefineerd' [Undefined] is selected, even though you may know from an external source that this specific printer/publisher was only active as a bookseller. It is not possible to give a source for this field.

Example
En casa de ... becomes [Undefined]

For Latin imprints, where the function-indication is included in the printer's reference term, the option 'Niet gedefineerd' [Undefined] is always selected.

If the imprint contains multiple function-indications, then only the function that is relevant for the specific work is mentioned. If there is more than one function-indication in the imprint (e.g. one before and one after the printer's name), only the first function is mentioned in the bibliographical description. All function indications, along with the year in which they are mentioned, are added to the scope note 'beroep' [professions/function] in the printers thesaurus.

Place of Publication: choice and reproduction

Find out how to choose and transcribe main forms and reference terms and what to do with false imprints, fictitious place names and fictitious printers.

Year of Publication: choice and reproduction

Establishing a year of publication is mostly straightforward but could also present problems. Whether it is dates in Latin or Greek, from different calendars, multiple dates, no dates or faulty dates, find out what to do and, for STCV cataloguers, how to put correctly enter them in Brocade.