 Searching
the Database:
To search the database,
click in the appropriate index (box) of the Search Screen, and then type
the name, word, topic, or number by which you wish to query the database.
Next click on "Search" at the lower left hand corner of the Search Screen.
You may enter text in more than one index (box). For example, typing "Horace"
in the Author box, and "France" in the Imprints File box, then clicking
on "Search," will retrieve works by the Latin poet Horace printed in France.
To clear the Search Screen, click on "Reset."
Because the database
is small, it is usually only necessary to enter a key word in any index,
for example, "Gutenberg" not "Johann Gutenberg," "initials" not "decorative
initials." Truncation also can be used. For example, entering "mon"
in the Association File index would retrieve "Bibliotheca Regia Monacensis",
"l'Abbe Quarre de Monay", and "Monastery of Polling". Similarly, searching
variant word forms can be facilitated, for example, by entering only "Pet"
in the appropriate index, not "Peter" or "Petrus," to retrieve either Peter
Lombard or Petrus Comestor. Asterisks should not be used.
The default arrangement (sort)
of retrieved works is by author/title. By clicking on "Imprint Date" in
the "Sort by" drop-down menu (lower left of Search Screen) before clicking
on "Search," retrieved works will be arranged by date of printing as given
in the imprint. In the case of facsimile reproductions and leaf books,
the date used is that of the original pre-1501 item or leaf, as indicated
in the call number (shelf mark).
Call
Number:
An index of individual
works in the Incunabula Collection by their Bancroft Library call numbers
(shelf marks). The collection is arranged by country (e.g. IS9 = Switzerland)
- City (e.g. B2 = Basel) - Printer (e.g. B35 = Johann Bergmann) - Year
of publication and author (e.g. 1497b = l497 work by Beltrammi) thus: IS9.B28B35.1497b
Author:
An index of personal
authors, such as Plato, Virgil, Pope Pius II, Poggio Bracciolini, or Jacobus
de Voragine; illustrators such as Wilhelm Pleydenwurff; and corporate authors
such as the Catholic Church. Several names may be entered; the author search
"Horace Landino" would retrieve editions of the works of the Latin poet
Horace which include Cristoforo Landino's Commentary.
Title:
An index of titles, such
as the
Satirae of Juvenal, the Etymologiae of Isidore of
Seville, or the Constitutiones
of Pope Clement V. Here also
are indexed the titles (names) of anonymous works such as the Bible,
or
the
Imitatio Christi, as well as series of modern facsimile
reproductions, such as
Incunables Poéticos Castellanos.
Bibliographic
References:
An index of standard
bibliographies and catalogues containing detailed descriptions of copies
of incunabula in other libraries also held by The Bancroft Library. This
index helps you easily to determine if The Bancroft holds a work described
in a particular bibliography or catalogue.
Standard abbreviations
are used. To search this index you should only key an abbreviation. For
example, "Brit. Mus. Cat." would retrieve those titles held by The Bancroft
Library and The British Library (formerly the Department of Printed Books,
The British Museum) and described in detail in the Catalogue of Books
Printed in the XV Century now in the British Museum.
List
of Bibliographies and Catalogues Cited in Records of Incunabula
Combining an abbreviation and
a particular entry number in a bibliography or catalogue, for example,
"Polain 2039" would retrieve a particular work described in Polain's Catalogue
des Livres Imprimés au Quinzième Siécle des Bibliothéques
de Belgique and held by The Bancroft.
Goff
Number:
Here can be found which
works listed in Frederick Goff's Incunabula in American Libraries (New
York, 1973) are held by The Bancroft Library. You may request a particular
letter, such as B, to list titles held by Bancroft having Goff numbers
beginning with B, or you may enter a complete Goff number, such as H-175,
the Goff number for The Bancroft Library's copy of the 1496
Epistolae
of
Jerome. The index includes facsimiles and individual leaves of some titles
found in Goff for which The Bancroft does not have an original copy (enter
"facsim." or "leaf" to display a list of these).
Subject:
A key word index of topical
subjects such as geography, history, physics, philosophy, theology, or
liturgy, as well as persons, corporate bodies, and places appearing as
subjects in incunabula. Use the specific subject, such as popes,
geometry, or Cologne, unless a broader topic such as Catholic Church, mathematics,
or Germany is desired.
Form/Genre/Language:
An index of examples
of physical form characteristics found in selected incunabula, such as
vellum bindings, woodcuts, black letter types, frontispieces, guide letters,
illuminations, initials, signatures, or rubrication; literary genre such
as epics, romances, sermons, translations, books of hours, or marginalia;
provenance evidence such as autographs, coats of arms, bookplates, bookseller's
notes, inscriptions, or marginalia; or languages. To retrieve them, enter
a form term (e.g. monastic bindings), or genre (e.g. speeches) in this
index.
Various elements may be combined
to form a search. For example, entering "Venice" in the Imprints
File box and "poems" in the Form/Genre/Language box will retrieve poetical
works printed in Venice. Entering "Leeu" in the Typographical File
box and "devices'' in the Form/Genre/Language box will retrieve examples
of Gerard Leeu's output including his printer's device.
To retrieve works in a particular
language, enter the name of the language (e.g. German) in this index. A
translation is indexed under both the original language and the language
of the translation. Various elements may be combined. For example,
entering "translations" in the Form/Genre/Language box and "Valla" in the
Author box will retrieve translations by Lorenzo Valla.
Imprints
File:
An index of works published
in a particular city (e.g., Lyon) or country (e.g., Belgium), or in a particular
year. A search combining place and date can also be made, such as "Zaragoza
1481" or "Netherlands 1498."
Typographical
File:
An index of printers,
such as Arnold Pannartz or Antoine Caillaut, or booksellers, publishers,
and other persons or firms associated with the production and distribution
of early printed books. To search for typographical features, such as Roman
types, printers' devices, or decorative initials, use the Form/Genre/Language
index.
Binders
File:
An index of individual
binders of incunabula, chiefly modern persons and firms, such as Francis
Bedford, or Rivière. To
search for types of bindings, such as vellum or monastic, use the Form/Genre/Language
index.
Association
File:
An index of former owners
of incunabula, such as Reinhard S. Speck, or King Louis XVI of France.
To search for provenance evidence, such as armorial bindings, autographs,
or bookplates, use the Form/Genre/Language index.
|
Go
to Database Search