Edition Policy
An edition guideline is a catalog of scientifically based rules on how to proceed when editing a text . Editing guidelines serve to prepare a printed (or online ) edition of a text corpus. Thereby giving transcription guidelines on how in one or more textual witnesses vorgefundene typeface of a manuscript or an old printing starts, or a hand specimen should be played. An edition guideline can also make stipulations, for example with regard to the selection of and handling of different text witnesses, handling of deviating conditions, the integration of referenced and referencing texts or the register apparatus.
History
In the history of the 19th century, the Monumenta Germaniae Historica in particular set standards for the edition of documents . The guidelines of the German Reichstag Acts , which relied on a consistent normalization of late medieval spelling, became influential .
In 1962 Johannes Schultze published - as a new version of a text from 1930 - the guidelines for the external text design when publishing sources on modern German history . They have become the benchmark for countless historical editions, but their extensive normalization has provoked severe criticism from literary scholars. Therefore, in 1980 the AHF published recommendations for the edition of early modern texts , which consider a stronger orientation on the linguistic form of the original to be appropriate.
In the case of the double consonance, Schultze had recommended the deletion of the consonants that are superfluous from today's perspective, but point 5.4 of the AHF recommendations states: Consonants are generally preserved . Apart from proper names, however, according to the AHF recommendations, i, j, u, v and w are reproduced according to the phonetic value (i.e. and not vnd , to not zw ).
Old German Studies
Many Middle High German texts are only available in much later tradition, which is why they have been translated back into normalized Middle High German . Such editions are still occasionally published today, but the principle of the main manuscript, which is reproduced verbatim, has generally prevailed. Traditionally, German studies tries to reproduce the handwritten findings in print much more meticulously (e.g. by maintaining the distinction between long and round s).
Newer German studies
Many classic editions intended for a wide audience normalize the spelling (e.g. write Not instead of Noth , with instead of bey ).
Epigraphy
There are separate edition guidelines for inscriptions , such as For example, for inscriptions from antiquity, the Leiden clasp system or the editing principles of German inscriptions for inscriptions from the Middle Ages and the early modern period.
See also
- Transcription (edition studies) (sample images)
Bibliography
- Georg Vogeler : Keyword edition guidelines in the bibliographic database for the historical auxiliary sciences
- Georg Vogeler: Keyword edition principles in the bibliographical database for the historical auxiliary sciences