Transcription Conventions for the Voltaire Correspondence at USC
Danielle Mihram, March 2017
Paleographers may choose to transcribe manuscripts by making as many, or as few changes as necessary for the intended use of the transcription. For letters in the Voltaire Correspondence Collection at USC, the following conventions are used, based on the suggestions made by Gabriel Audisio[1], [2] and, in particular, by Béatrice Beaucourt-Vicidomini[3].
The transcriptions fall between modernized and semi-diplomatic[4]: the transcription for each letter records as much detail from the original manuscript as is practical.
- Original lineation and indentation are retained.
- Original spelling is maintained. In the case that spelling seems particularly incorrect, [sic] notifies the reader that the spelling was originally written that way. This rule applies as well to the absence of apostrophes (such as “davoir” (for “d’avoir”) or spacing in words (such as “le quel” for “lequel”).
- In the letters no distinction is made between u and v, i and j. Original spelling is maintained.
- Punctuation. In texts prior to the XVIIth century, punctuation was rare; the comma and the full stop were interchangeable. In a few instances (in the case of the Voltaire Correspondence), where there is a need to render the text intelligible modern, punctuation is used.
- Minuscule letters are retained even where the modern convention would use majuscules (at the beginning of a sentence, proper names, etc.).
- Original accents are maintained. In instances that are obscure, the accent that fits the author’s usual habit is chosen. This allows the modern reader to see etymological details that have been lost in modern orthography. For example, the circumflex ( ˆ ) in words such as nôtre, allows us to see that the word was once spelled “nostre,” as the circumflex signifies the letter “s”.
- Abbreviations and superscript letters are expanded when there is a need for clarity (Monsieur), (Monseigneur). The supplied letters are italicized. Abbreviations which are identical in French and in English, such as “St” (e.g., St François [St Francis]), are not expanded.
- Arabic numbers as abbreviations for the last 4 months of the year are expanded in a footnote. The supplied letters are italicized: “7bre” is transcribed as Septembre.
- Braces encompass illegible letters (indicated by periods) or letters lost through ink blot: {...}.
- Backward and forward slashes encompass text inserted by the scribe above the line: \tout/.
- Additions to the original text are made inside brackets [ ], and may be used if, for example, the scribe had omitted an obvious word needed for clarification.
- Angle brackets encompass deleted matter: <
adversaire>. - Otiose marks, or line fillers, are often seen at the end of a line of prose in order to fill up blank space and give an illusion of right-justification. These are not noted in our transcriptions of the manuscripts.
- Special notes about the manuscript are numbered in superscript.
[1] Audisio, Gabriel. “Transcrire un Texte.” La Revue Française de Généalogie, vol. 208, Oct-Nov 2013, pp. 52-53.
[2] Audisio, Gabriel and Isabelle Rambaud. Lire le Français d'hier : Manuel de Paléographie Moderne XVe-XVIIIe siècle. Cinquième édition revue et augmentée. Paris: Armand Colin, 2016.
[3] Beaucourt-Vicidomini, Béatrice. Manuel de Paléographie Moderne, XVIe-XVIIIe Siècles. Paris: Archives & Culture, 2012, p. 44.
[4] For an explanation of “diplomatic” and “semi-diplomatic” transcriptions, click here.