How to Search Effectively

The most effective search strategy is probably to enter a few, more definite or pronounced characteristics of the paper as search criteria, and to avoid those descriptors that are more subjective or variable in nature. These less effective search parameters (so idicated on the form) will tend to reduce the percentage of successful matches of search criteria, and thus move legitimate paper matches to the lower part of the search results list.

Part 1: Paper Identification:

• *Place name: Athens Athos Chicago London Madrid Oxford Paris
  

  Other place name (if an apropriate name was not found above):

  
  

• *Library Name: Agia Anna (skiti) Agiou Pavlou All Souls Arch. Nat. Arsenal Auct. Ancien fonds grec Balliol Coll. Barlow Barocci Biblioteca Nacional Bibliotheque Nationale Bodley British Library Chiliandariou Coislin Colbert Digby Dionysiou Docheiariou D'Orville Douce Dugdale Esphigmenou gr. gr. suppl. Grigoriou Hatton Holkham Iviron Kafsokalivia Karakallou Kastamonitou Koutloumousiou Laud Lavra Nea Skiti Pantaleimonos Pantokratoros Philotheou Protaton Rawlinson Simonos Petras Skiti Agiou Dimitriou Skiti Iviron Stavronikita Vatopediou Xenophontos Xeropotamou Zographou
  

  Other library name:

• *Collection name:
  

  If the codex belongs to a specific collection within its library, please enter the collection name here:

• *Shelf number:
  

  Shelf numbers are prefaced by a number of initial zeros appropriate to the size of the library or collection.; for example, Athos, Philotheou cod. 25 will be entered as 025, because the number of manuscripts in the collection is in the hundreds.

  Please enter the manuscript's shelf number here:

• *Paper reference number:

  Each type of paper in a codex or document is to be assigned a reference number which will be entered in the box below. For example, when five types of paper occur in a codex, they are numbered sequentially 1-5. The five papers in Athos, Philotheou codex 25 are identified as Athos, Philotheou 025,1 - 025,5. (Only one type of paper and one reference number should be entered in any submission of this form.)

  When matched pairs of watermarks have been found (corresponding to matched trays used in the paper-making process) distinguish the twins by the letters, a and b (ex: Athos, Philotheou 005,2a and 005,2b)

  When only one type of paper occurs in the manuscript, it is given the number 1.

  Please enter the paper reference number here:

Part 2: Manuscript Description.

The following elements of manuscript description occur in the paper descriptions and may be used in searching for papers. Please note that although it would be desirable to search for approximate numbers for dimensions and dates, our search capabilities at present are limited to exact numbers. You might want to search for adjacent numbers if you are searching by paper dimensions or date.

1. Type of manuscript:

   Select type of manuscript here:

   codex roll (sheets glued end to end) unattached sheet of paper portfolio or sheaf of documents other:

   
   

   Other manuscript type:

2. Manuscript dimensions

   Please enter dimensions of folio (if a codex) or of sheet (unattached or in roll) in mm. in the boxes below.
   

   NOTE: enter numbers only, not the abbreviation, "mm."

   codex vertical dimension or narrow dimension of sheet:
   

   codex horiz. dimension or long dimension of sheet:
   

3. Codex format

   If the manuscript is a codex, you may indicate the format of the codex or of that section of the codex in which this paper occurs (folio, quarto, octavo, etc) here:

   2o 4o large 4o 8o large 8o 16o large 16o

4. Use of paper in the manuscript

   The relationship of a paper to the manuscript with which it is now associated ranges from being the original material of the manuscript to being a completely distinct paper only incidentally associated with the present manuscript. You may select a descriptor in the box below which describes the relation of the paper to the manuscript in which it was found.

   the original material of the manuscript a supplement written for the orig. manuscript a restoration of the manuscript endleaves in a codex a pastedown (glued to inside of coverboard) laminated papers composing a binding a wrapper for the manuscript an originally distinct ms (bound with this ms at a later date) only incidentally associated with this ms other:

5. Scribe Identification:

   If you are looking for papers associated with a particular scribe, you may enter the scribe's name here.

   First Scribe:

   Second Scribe:

   Third Scribe:

6. Provenance

   If you are looking for paper(s) associated with a particular locale or scriptorium, you may enter that information here:

   Provenance (region or city):

   Scriptorium (monastery or other center of copy):

Part 3: Paper Description

1. *Watermark design

   To search for papers with a particular watermark, please select one from the list of watermarks in the pull-down menu below.

   Please note that this list includes

   • Descriptors of Basic Motifs
     (for example: AMPHORA)

     Supplementary descriptors for basic motifs (boxes for 2 descriptors)

     for example: with SINGLE HANDLE

     Descriptors for secondary motifs occurring above or below the basic watermark design

     Abbreviations

     NOTE: mgr. for "monogram," ltr. for "letter"

   NOTE: Please do not select parenthesized cross references or following explanations as options in the pull-down lists below.
   

   Basic Motif AMPHORA ANCHOR ANCHOR AND STAR ANGEL ARROW ARROWS ASTERISK AX (banner: use STANDARD) BASILICA BELL BOW & ARROW BULL (see also HEAD OF BULL) CALIPER CARPENTER'S SQUARE CHALICE CIRCLE CIRCLES COLLAR (?) COLUMN CREST (see also shield) CROSS CROSS, GREEK CROSS-FORM CROSSBOW CROWN DOG EAGLE EAGLE-form LETTER A FERULE (FLEUR-DE-LIS: use TREFOIL) FLOWER FOOLSCAP FRUIT FRUITS GAUNTLET GAZELLE GRAPES HAMMER HAND HAT HEAD OF BULL HEAD OF HORSE HEAD OF HUMAN HEAD OF UNICORN HELMET HORSE HORSE, half-body (see also HEAD OF HORSE) HUMAN (see also HEAD OF HUMAN) JELLYFISH (?) KEY KEYS LADDER LAMB (see also RAM) LETTER A LETTER B LETTER C LETTER F LETTER L LETTER R LETTER S LION MAN MAN with AXE MONOGRAM MONOGRAM BA MONOGRAM CEVP MONOGRAM CP MONOGRAM M MONOGRAM NK MONOGRAM UNIDENTIFIED MOON MOONS, TRIPLE CRESCENT NAIL PADDLE PEDASTLE (see also TOWER) POT (see also AMPHORA, VASE) POWDER HORN RAM (see also LAMB) RIFLE RIFLES SCALES (ROUNDED PAN) SCALES (FLAT PAN) SCIZZORS SHIELD SICKLE SPADE (?) SQUARE (see also CARPENTER'S SQUARE) STANDARD ...(i.e., banner) STAR (see also ASTERISK) SWORD SWORDS "THREE MOUNTAINS" TOWER TREE TREFOIL UNICORN (see also HEAD OF UNICORN) UNIDENTIFIED VASE (see also AMPHORA, POT) WEIGHT (of SCALE)	Supplemental Descriptor CROSSED DIAGONAL STRIPE SINGLE HANDLE DOUBLE HANDLE /4-petals /5-petals IN CIRCLE IN OVAL IN SHIELD mgr. 6 in palm mgr. M in palm mgr. PM in palm ornamental RAMPANT unidentified *******************
   	Supplemental Descriptor CROSSED DIAGONAL STRIPE SINGLE HANDLE DOUBLE HANDLE /4-petals /5-petals IN CIRCLE IN OVAL IN SHIELD mgr. 6 in palm mgr. M in palm mgr. PM in palm ornamental RAMPANT unidentified ****************************
   Secondary Motifs: Above the Basic Design: BIRD above CROSS above CROSS/greek above FLOWER above FLOWER/4-petals above FLOWER/5-petals above mgr. BA & CROSS above RAMROD above STAFF & FLOWER above STAFF & SNAKE above STAR/6-point above STAR/5-point above STAR & MONOGRAM above TREFOIL above ****************************	Secondary Motifs: Below the Basic Design: GRAPES below mgr. below mgr. LC below mgr. NK below *******************

   Type of facsimile from which the watermark image submitted to the Archive was produced:

   a Dylux® print a Beta Radiograph print a hand Tracing a Rachel Wade® Watermark Reader tracing a machine tracing
   

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2. Countermarks

   To search for a particular countermark, please select one of the descriptors listed in the pull-down menu below. If the paper has no countermark, you may leave it blank, or select "No Countermark."

   No Countermark

   Countermark not found

   Countermark not preserved

   Letter(s) A

   Letter(s) AB

   Letter(s) B

   Letter(s) B-B with TREFOIL

   Letter(s) B-E with TREFOIL

   Letter(s) H-B with TREFOIL

   Letter(s) P-B with TREFOIL

   Letter(s) V

   Other:

   Type of facsimile from which the countermark image submitted to the Archive was produced:

   a Dylux® print a Beta Radiograph print a hand Tracing a Rachel Wade® Watermark Reader tracing a machine tracing

   
   

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3. Watermark Description
   • Watermark Dimensions can be used as descriptors for a search. Because of the variation among examples even of the same paper, however, it is not a very effective means of searching, and could eliminate possible paper matches from the search results. If you have little other data by which to search, and your dimensions do not turn up any potential paper matches, you might repeat the same search with dimensions somewhat larger or smaller.

     NOTE: "Vertical" in the watermark description means parallel with the alignment of the chain lines; it is not necessarily the same as the vertical axis of the design.

     NOTE: In the paper descriptions, dimensions are recorded in mm.; in printouts of paper descriptions, the vertical dimension is given first.

     Enter dimensions to be searched here (numerals only, not the abbreviation, mm.):

     Vertical dimension:

     Horizontal dimension:

   • Position of Watermark is described relative to the chain lines. It is a good means of searching, since all watermarks in this archive are described by one of these standard descriptors.

     Please select a descriptor for the position of the watermark here:

     between chain lines regularly spaced between chain lines more widely spaced on a chain line on a supplemental chain line across 2 chain lines across 3 chain lines

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4. Wire & Chain Lines Description

   Wire line patterns offer a very effective means of searching, since all papers are described by one of the patter descriptors listed below. Searching by measurements, however, is not very effective, because of the variability among papers produced from the same mold. If you opt to search by measurements, you might want to repeat the search several times, trying measurements slightly larger or smaller.

   • Density of wire lines in mm is indicated as the measure (in mm.) of 20 wirelines.

     Please enter the measurement of wirelines here (numerals only, not the abbreviation, mm.):

     Wire line patterns, although sometimes subject to interpretation, generally make good search options, since all papers in the Watermark Archive are described by one of these descriptors. Select an appropriate descriptor here:

     thin wire lines thick wire lines alternating thick & thin very thick wire lines thick wire lines, thin lines at edges wirelines in corrugated pattern wires wrapped around the chain lines alternate wires wrapped around the chains

   • Spacing of chain lines in mm:
     The degree of variability and complexity inherent in this element of description is very great, so it does not offer a very effective means for searching. As with other measurements, you should also search for measurements somewhat greater or smaller.

     How Chain Lines Are Measured:

     If the spacing of the chain lines is not regular, the intervals between them are indicated sequentially, with the position of the watermark (which often affects the spacing of the chain lines) indicated by parentheses, as follows:
     

     If the watermark is on a chainline, the spaces on either side occupied by the watermark are given in parentheses:

     28,25,(15,14),28,25

     If the watermark is positioned between or across two chain lines, the space between them is given in parentheses:

     44,45,(50),47,43

   If you choose to search by this means, enter the description of chain lines here (numerals only, not the abbreviation, mm.):

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5. Paper Thickness

   Paper thickness is described on a subjective and relative scale, using the descriptors provided in the pull-down list below. Only extreme cases will be listed as "very thin" or "very thick". If your search yields no results, you might try repeating the search with the adjacent descriptors. Please select from the following list:

   very thin thin medium thin medium medium thick thick very thick

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6. Paper Surface (color & texture description)
   • Color descriptors:

     Paper colors are described only by the terms found in the pull-down list, below. Because of the subjectivity inherent in this element of description, you might want to try more than one if your first search yields no results.

     Note:
     

     "white," and "off-white" indicate lighter color tones
     

     cream ==> ivory ==> beige represent a continuum from yellowish to browninsh tones.

     white off-white (beige) off-white (grey) off-white (cream) beige cream ivory

   • Texture descriptors:
     All papers in the archive are described by a selection of the texture descriptors in the following list. The most effective means of searching would be by the most prominent feature(s) of the paper surface. Select descriptor(s) from the following:

     smooth

     matte

     fuzzy

     patina

     glazed

     bumpy

     dark fibres visible in paper

     wire lines visible in surface of paper

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7. Stiffness of Paper

   All papers in the archive are described by a selection of the stiffness descriptors in the following list. The most effective means of searching would be by the most prominent trait(s) of the paper. Select descriptor(s) from the following:

   stiff

   crisp

   supple

   limp

   fiber-network disintegration

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8. Date of the Paper

   Century is indicated in the form 14** (=1400-1490; decade by 145* (= 1450-1459); range of dates by 145*-146*)

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9. References to Published Watermarks

   References to published specimens of watermarks might be useful means of searching if you have a paper which you have tentatively matched up with a watermark listed in, say, Briquet, and you want to determine if any papers in the Watermark Archive have also been linked with that Briquet example.

   References to published watermark catalogues are typically given by author and the watermark reference number used in that catalog.

   Common Abbreviations:

   • Briquet

     C. M. Briquet, Les Filigranes. Second Edition, 4 volumes, Leipzig, 1923. Reprinted N.Y., Hacker Art Books, 1966 and 1985.

   • Harlfinger

     Dieter & Johanna Harlfinger, Wasserzeichen aus griechischen Handschriften. Berlin, Nikolaus Mielke, 1974.

   • Mosin & Traljic

     Vladimir A. Mosin and Seid M. Traljic, Filigranes des XIIIe et XIVe SS. Zagreb, Academie Yougoslave des Sciences et des Beaux-Arts, Institut d'Histoire, 1957.

   Please enter below sources and watermark reference numbers to be searched:
   

   First source:

   Short entry: Briquet Mosin & Traljic Harlfinger
   Watermark reference:

   Second source:

   Short entry: Briquet Mosin & Traljic Harlfinger
   Watermark reference:

   Third source:

   Short entry: Briquet Mosin & Traljic Harlfinger
   Watermark reference:

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10. Optional Additional Notes Optional additional notes occur in these descriptions sporadically for mention of special circumstances affecting the paper or to clarify or qualify any element of your description, you may add here such comments as
    • how the paper is distributed through the codex
    • how the paper is mixed with other papers
    • severe acid deterioration
    • severe water stains
    • information to help the user locate very faint watermarks in the print
    • comments regarding any references given above to published watermarks
    • etc.
    You may enter here any key words pertinent to the paper you are searching that you think might occur in Archive descriptions in the Optional Notes section:

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    When you have finished defining your search, you may:

    or
    if you want to start over.