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I am working on creating citations for a letter I received in 2001. The letter was in response to a request for baptismal information. The author of the letter writes "Due to some difficulty in transcribing the handwriting, some of which is in Latin, some of the names may be incorrectly spelled." Following this statement is a numbered list with 7 entries that where transcribed from the register including any other notations. The notations include marriages. Following the list is added information that was not originally requested about the father to the children in the original request.
My thoughts are to cite each transcription separately. For example:
Saint Bridget Catholic Church (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) to Ann C Gilchrest, letter, 8 March 2001, transcribed church register, entry for Marie Cecilia Vero, baptized 23 September 1894; volume and page number are not cited.
My questions. Does this citation convey all the information I should include? Should I include "some entries are in Latin"? When there is a notation about a marriage should that be included in the citation?
Thanks,
Ann Gilchrest
Yes, the citation conveys the
Yes, the citation conveys the essentials—except, perhaps, the actual identity of the letter writer. (Not all transcribers have the same ability to read old writing; and not all church personnel have the same ability, either. A reading by one church employee might differ from that of another.) Also, for clarity, EE would probably say "transcription of church register entry for ... ," lest the phrase "transcribed church register" lead someone less experienced to assume that the letter transcribed the whole church register.
Should you include "some entries are in Latin"? That would be relevant if the entry you are citing was originally in Latin.
Should you include "a notation about a marriage"? Presumably, you are referring to a marginal notation made many years later, that crossreferences a marriage of that individual in that same church or notes that someone has reported the person's marriage elsewhere. If you are using that baptismal entry with its marginal notation as supporting evidence for the marriage, your citation would definitely reference the marginal notation. EE would be inclined to do so in "working notes," in any case, to cover all bases.
Thank you for your input. I
Thank you for your input. I have added the Priests name. Since the letter does not tell me which entries where in Latin it just say's "some of which is in Latin" I have decided to add the phrase "portions of the register are in Latin"
Here is the completed citation:
Saint Bridget Catholic Church (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), Reverend Richard R York to Ann C Gilchrest, letter, 8 March 2001, transcribed and translated church register entry for Marie Cecila Vero, baptized 23 September 1894, marginal notaion married Michael Cannon 1 July 1916; volume and page number not cited, portions of the register are in Latin.
Ann