Sender: Rare Books and Special Collections Forum <EXLIBRIS@RUTVM1.BITNET>
This is probably carrying the topic of printing codes farther than it
deserves, but my recent comment seems to have been misunderstood by several
people, so pardon one last attempt. As to the form of the code, especially
regarding letterpress vs. offset books, I was speaking about what was actually
done, rather than what could have been done. There were a variety of codes
used in letterpress books. Most did not lend themselves to change by deletion,
or in pg's phrase "whanging down". Certainly the form used in nearly all
offset books today could have been altered in that way, but has anyone ever
seen one in a letterpress book? I will call this a working hypothesis based on
looking at lots of books, but I still maintain that the numerical code we have
now is at least de facto an artifact of offset production, for the reason I
stated before. Also, I wasn't confusing edition and issue in the Gill book,
merely quoting the information on the verso of the title page of my copy and
most others I've seen, i.e. "98765 First Edition."
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+ Philip A. Metzger +
+ Linderman Library, 30 Library Drive +
+ Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18015-3067 +
+ Special Collections (215) 758-4506 +
+ Lehigh University Press (215) 758-3933 +
+ Fax for both (215) 974-6471 +
+ Internet pam5@lehigh.edu +
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