[DCRM-L] [EXT] Fingerprint Fun For Friday

[Duhr, Stefan]

Dear Chris,

To answer briefly:

Yes, if the page length is insufficient, it is correct to go back to the last page from which individual characters were taken. The lines above are used for this purpose. For a single-sheet print, this means that the line endings of the last 16 lines are used.

The rules of the FEI fingerprint are based on line breaks, which can vary in a new typeset and are also useful for single-sheet prints.

For a new typesetting with identical lines, a different Fingerprint method should be used, which is based on a different position of the sheet signatures or a different position of the printing types due to different spaces between them, for example the STCN fingerprint or the Bibliographical Profile by Douglas J. Osler.

You record the FEI Fingerprint in MARC21 in structured form, as shown in the example. In Germany and Austria, we use the unstructured form, as is also common in UNIMARC.

026 __ ǂa i-m- e-em ǂb r-us vict (C) ǂc 1727 (R) ǂ2 fei
would then be
026 __ ǂe i-m- e-em r-us vict (C) 1727 (R) ǂ2 fei

Best regards from Berlin,
Stefan

P.S.: My German-language training page: https://verbundwiki.gbv.de/x/HYD_Cw
___________________________________________________
Stefan Duhr, M.A.
Abteilung Handschriften und Historische Drucke | Department of Manuscripts and Early Printed Books
Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz | Berlin State Library - Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation
Unter den Linden 8
10117 Berlin

+49 30 266-43 6688
stefan.duhr at sbb.spk-berlin.de<mailto:stefan.duhr at sbb.spk-berlin.de>
https://staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/die-staatsbibliothek/abteilungen/handschriften-und-historische-drucke
Im Rahmen der E-Mail-Kommunikation werden gegebenenfalls personenbezogene Daten verarbeitet. Hinweise zum Datenschutz: http://sbb.berlin/datenschutz

“There is no bounds to be set upon human stupidity, where books are concerned.”
James Duff Brown, Scottish bibliographer and librarian (A manual of practical bibliography. London 1906, p. 92)

Von: DCRM-L <dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu> Im Auftrag von Chris Tangeman via DCRM-L
Gesendet: Freitag, 27. Februar 2026 19:44
An: dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu
Cc: Chris Tangeman <ctangeman1 at udayton.edu>
Betreff: [EXT] [DCRM-L] Fingerprint Fun For Friday

EXTERNE E-MAIL - SEIEN SIE ACHTSAM BEIM ÖFFNEN VON LINKS UND ANHÄNGEN

Happy Friday, all!

I have a question for any fingerprint identifier users out there, particularly those who use the FEI guidelines.

Not long after I began cataloging rare books two and a half years ago, I saw a record on EDIT16 that included a fingerprint, and I have been hooked ever since. I have included them in most of the pre-1800 rare books that I have cataloged. However, this week I am cataloging an 8-page oration--which is fewer pages than ideal for a fingerprint identifier--but I still wanted to give it a shot. The guidelines seem to allow for it, but I am a little unclear about what they are instructing for the choice of pages to use for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th groups. I am highlighting what I believe to be the relevant rules:

II. GENERAL RULES
II.3. Choice of Pages. The pages to be used are:
II.3.a. For the 1st group: the first printed recto which follows the title-page and is not itself a title-page.
II.3.b. For the 2nd group: the fourth recto after that used for the first group.
II.3.c. For the 3rd group: there are two possibilities:
II.3.c.2. If there is no numeration in the book, or no recto numbered 13 or 17 in Arabic or Roman numerals, or those rectos have already been used, take the fourth recto after that used for the second group.
II.3.d. For the 4th group: the verso of the recto used for the third group except in the case of books of insufficient length (cf. III.3.a.3).
III. PRACTICAL GUIDE AND SPECIFIC POINTS
III.3. Choice of pages
III.3.a.3. If the book is of insufficient length for all the groups to be taken in the usual way, the fingerprint is completed by returning to the last page (or column) from which symbols were taken, and using the lines immediately above those already used until 16 symbols have been recorded.
III.3.b.3. For the 3rd group: the recto used for the third group must contain printed text, and must follow the recto used for the second group.
III.3.b.4. For the 4th group: if the verso of the page used for the third group is blank, the rule on books of insufficient length should be applied (III.3.a.3), and the lines on the recto immediately above those used for the third group should be used.
I.3. [Single sheets printed on one side of the leaf are a special case. (cf. III.5).]
[III.5. Single sheets. -This section appears in draft form in the 2nd issue of the Fingerprint Newsletter, and will be included here as soon as possible.]

Since this disbound pamphlet comprises only 4 leaves, I took all four groups all from the first printed recto which follows the title-page (from II.3.a), each group taken from lines immediately above those previously recorded (from III.3.a.3). The yellow sections make me think this is okay, but the blue rule says the recto for the 3rd group must follow the recto for the 2nd. Maybe I should be ignoring the blue.

Perhaps the obvious question might be why bother with a fingerprint for such a short work; only the rule for the 4th group includes the possibility of working on a book of insufficient length. But the orange above implies that the intention was to use it for all printed materials, even those printed on single sheets. I have no idea whether that rule for single sheets was ever released.

Anyway, I constructed my fingerprint like this:
026 __ ǂa i-m- e-em ǂb r-us vict (C) ǂc 1727 (R) ǂ2 fei
and I was just curious if any fingerprint users saw any flaws in the method of taking all four groups from the same page (without seeing the pamphlet being described, of course).

Have a great weekend!
Chris Tangeman
Special Collections Cataloger
208 Roesch Library
University of Dayton
300 College Park
Dayton, OH 45469
937-229-4075
ctangeman1 at udayton.edu<mailto:ctangeman1 at udayton.edu>
Largo al factotum della citta!
Presto a biblioteca che l'alba e gia.
Ah, che bel vivere, che bel piacere
per un bibliotecario di qualità!
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