3.1 The provenance note at the beginning of each transcribed document employs the following symbols to describe the handwriting, form, and signature of the document. The first capital letter describes the handwriting of the document:

A        autograph (written in the signer's hand)

H        handwritten (written by someone other than the signer)

P        printed

Pp      partially printed

The second capital letter describes the form of the document:

D        document

L         letter

E         endorsement

T         telegram

The third capital letter describes the signature:

S         signed

           unsigned

X        signed with a mark

I          initialed

R        signed with a representation of someone else's name (written or stamped)

3.2 If the editors did not have access to the original document, but did have a mechanical copy that provided an image of the original document (e.g., photocopy, photostat, printed facsimile, photograph, etc.), they employed the following language in the provenance note:

Copy of [Manuscript Symbol]

If the repository holds the original document but prohibited scanning, employ the following language in the provenance note for the scan of the photocopy:

Copy of [Manuscript Symbol]

and include the following statement in the provenance note:

"Repository holds original but would not allow scanning." (2/1/2009)

If the editors had access to a copy made by pressing the original to onion-skin paper and applying water to make a copy, they used the following terminology:

Pressbook Copy

3.3 If the editors had only a copy of the words of the original document, they used the following terminology:

Handwritten Transcription

Typed Transcription

Printed Transcription

Partially Printed Transcription (5/18/2010)

3.4         Published Opinion                                       Printed Transcription

              Clerk's Copy of Opinion in Docket             Handwritten Document

              Declaration from Circuit Court Transcript    Handwritten Transcription, excerpt from Circuit Court Transcript, ...

              Newspaper Report                                     Printed Document

             Signed Copy of Printed Emancipation Proclamation     Printed Document Signed

             Telegram received                                        Handwritten Telegram Signed with a Representation

             Copy of telegram received                            Handwritten Transcription

             Letter sent                                                    Autograph Letter Signed

             Letter in onion-skin book                              Pressbook Copy

             Letter copied by clerk                                   Handwritten Transcription

             Letter photoduplicate                                    Copy of Autograph Letter Signed

3.5 Distinctions exist between (1) a Handwritten Letter Signed with a Representation and a Handwritten Transcription and (2) a Partially Printed Transcription and Partially Printed Document Signed with a Representation.

3.5.1 The distinction between a Handwritten Letter Signed with a Representation and a Handwritten Transcription is a fine one and may be difficult to implement. Keep in mind these factors:

Generally, a Handwritten Letter Signed with a Representation was sent to a specific recipient. (e.g., a letter Nicolay writes for Lincoln and to which Nicolay signs Lincoln’s name; the copy of a telegram that a governor received from Lincoln).

Generally, a Handwritten Transcription is made for file purposes. (e.g., copies of appointments retained by an entity of the federal government; the copy of a telegram that a governor’s clerk copies into a correspondence record for a governor).

In the telegram example above,

The original telegram written by Lincoln would be an Autograph Telegram Signed.

A retained copy written by a federal clerk or secretary of outgoing telegrams would be a Handwritten Transcription.

The actual telegram received by the governor would be a Handwritten Telegram Signed with a Representation.

A subsequent copy written by the governor’s clerk into a record of correspondence would be a Handwritten Transcription.

3.5.2 The distinction between a Partially Printed Document Signed with a Representation and a Partially Printed Transcription is a fine one and may be difficult to implement. Keep in mind these factors:

Generally, a Partially Printed Document Signed with a Representation is a document with both printed and written text to which someone signs someone else’s name.

Receipt for Illinois Central Railroad payment (see 208931)

Generally, a Partially Printed Transcription involves a copy of the words of the original document. Most if not all exequaturs are Partially Printed Transcriptions (4/18/2010).

Exequatur to Carl August Stoltenfoht as Consul of Lübeck at New York (see 231641)

3.5.3 As a general rule, if a document is typed (on a typewriter), the document is mostly a transcription. The distinction between a printed document and a printed transcription is a fine one may be difficult to interpret and implement. Keep in mind these factors:

Generally, if a document is typed (on a typewriter), it is mostly like a transcription.

Printed documents are contemporary documents that are circulated (circulars, general orders, orders, reports, etc.)

Printed transcriptions are documents created after the fact (Lincoln letter or speech reproduced in a 20^th-century newspaper. (8/17/2010)