Editing Conventions
Editing conventions used in item fields
[1634] – A year or date within square brackets indicates that the date of writing is not explicit in the document itself, but it can be inferred either from context or from other notations present in the document (for instance a notation indicating the date of discussion in a PF meeting). For technical reasons, square brackets are not used in the Date field; the implicit nature of a date is only indicated in the Title and Description fields.
[Nicolò Guidi di Bagno] – A name or part of a name within square brackets (in the Title, Creator or Contributor fields) indicates that the name in question is not explicit in the document itself, but it can be inferred from either context, titles or other notations present in the document (for instance if a person is mentioned as ‘the nuncio to France’, rather than by name).
[William Lesley?] – A name or part of a name followed by a question mark within square brackets (in the Title, Creator or Contributor fields) indicates that the editor deduced the identity of the person in question on the basis of external information that is not contained in the document itself. The reasoning is usually provided in the Description field, under Additional Comments.
Gio’ Guerino [Julien Guérin] – A name or part of a name within square brackets, following a different spelling of the same name (usually in the Description field), indicates the ‘modernised’ version of a name, which can be found in the biographical dictionary.
Editing conventions used in transcriptions
<Margin note: Madagascar> – Sharp brackets (the greater-than and less-than signs) are used to differentiate between the main body of the text and the short notations that were sometimes added on the margins (usually by PF clerks, but not always) to summarize the main ideas of a more complex text, such as a mission report or the minutes of a PF meeting.
[Hand 1]; [Hand 2] – Italics between square brackets within a transcribed text are used for short clarifying notes by the editor of this database. Longer editing notes are in the footnotes.
annuity; Tunis – Strikethrough or underline within a document replicate the state of the original document. NB: If legible, stricken words are transcribed.
{dictorum patrum} – Words within braces indicate later insertions into the text, made in the same hand as the main body of the document, either between the lines or elsewhere in the text.
p[er] – Letters in square brackets within a word are filled-in by the editor; in the original text they are indicated by the standard abbreviations of the time (p’ for per or pro; cardinalib’ for cardinalibus; eiusd’ for eiusdem; g’n’ale for generale, etc.). Abbreviations are filled-in in the transcriptions of this database only when there is a chance they might look particularly confusing to the reader; otherwise the original notations are kept. See also Abbreviations used in the sources.
[annuit?] – An almost illegible word for which the editor ventured a guess.
[et or per?] – Alternative readings for an almost illegible word.
[as?]pirante – Letters in square brackets within a word are not clearly legible; they are the editor’s guesses.
?beundis; ob?undis – One question mark within a word indicates one illegible letter for which the editor did not venture a guess.
… – Indicates illegible groups of letters (if within a word) or illegible words (if freestanding).
[…] – Indicates words, phrases or paragraphs omitted from the transcript because they are not directly related to the subject of this database.
/ – Indicates the end of a line in the original document