Annotated Catalog of the Collection

Abbreviations and Terminology

When I began this cataloging project in 1972, I was fortunate to encounter the American Imprints Inventory, a Works Progress Administration project carried out from 1937 to 1942. It was the brainchild of Douglas McMurtrie, a trained engineer who became one of the foremost authorities on book production. McMurtrie wrote the two manuals that I read with great interest. From them I first learned the distinction between broadside and broadsheet—a distinction I still find myself explaining to rare book dealers who see no difference between a sheet printed on one side and one printed on both. Over the years I have developed my own system of notation, but to Douglas McMurtrie and the American Imprints Inventory I remain deeply indebted.

Here are explanations of the abbreviations and terminology I use:

The CATALOG field identifies the group that produced the item:

CC = Communication Company
DP = Diggers*
DR = Digger Related*
FC = Free City Collective
FPS = Free Print Shop
KF = Kaliflower
PD = Planet Drum [Foundation]
PE = Planetedge

HA = Misc Haight-Ashbury
MI = Misc Countercultural

*DP and DR are closely related. DP are all writings by the original Diggers, starting with the 1966 series of street sheets signed "THE D I G G E R S" and including articles written subsequently by any of the original Diggers (including the two founders and everyone who actively participated from 1966-68). DR are "Digger related" items that are not identifiable as produced by the original Diggers. Both DP and DR do not include anything published by Communication Company (CC) or Free City Collective (FC) or KF (Kaliflower).

The GROUP field identifies curated sets of material that cut across the catalog categories. At present there is one curated group: “DIGGER MOVEMENT (Core Collection),” which includes significant materials written by or about the Digger movement, broadly understood to include the groups and individuals who joined, extended, or emerged from the original San Francisco Diggers. For example, many of the articles in Kaliflower reflect what might be called the “passing of the dharma” from the original Diggers to the Sutter Street Commune.

The MEDIUM field identifies the type of material:

Broadside = one sheet printed on one side
Broadsheet = one sheet printed on both sides
Newspaper = either issue, a clipping, or partial issue
Folder = one sheet folded, thus two leaves [four pages] of printed material
Leaflet = two or more sheets stapled (or affixed) at one corner
Pamphlet = two or more sheets gathered into a single section, bound or unbound. The term also includes a one-sheet pamphlet: a single sheet cut and folded to produce a multi-page publication.
Booklet = two or more sheets, not in a section, bound on one edge
Book = two or more sections bound
Collection = identifiable set of materials held intact
Audio tape = oral history or other audio recording of an event
Video tape = video recording of an event
Digital = item existing in born-digital or digitized format
Manuscript = handwritten or typewritten document

The COLLECTION field identifies copies of each item in the form:

[Abbreviation of library etc]-[original or xerox etc](source).

Libraries: SOLA (Summer of Love Archives); SS (Shotwell Street); CSL (California State Library); BL (Bancroft Library).

Abbreviations

illus =illustrated
... = edited in transcription
[...] = ellipsis in the original text
r.s = reverse side
x = xerox (photocopy)
xx = photocopy of a photocopy
o = original
ComCo = item has the Communication Company imprint
SOLA = the collection which encompasses the Digger Archives
n.d. = no date
n.p. = no publishing imprint
r. = recto
v. = verso
Lt. = Letter size (8-1/2" x 11")
Lg. = Legal size (8-1/2" x 14")
Note: all dimensions given in inches (rule of origination)

BibCit = bibliographic citation. The construction order is: Author. Date. Publication / periodical information (with volume, issue, page). Medium. Dimension. Extent. Place + Publisher. Imprint. Collation.

So the general sequence of BibCit is:
 
By Author. Date. Publication, vol. Volume, no. Issue, p. Page. Medium. Dimension. Extent. Place: Publisher. Imprint: Imprint. Collation: Collation. Collection: Collection.
 

The American Imprints Inventory Manual of Procedure, 1939
 

The AII manual I located in 1976 and studied as I began the Digger catalog project.
 

Douglas McMurtrie, the mastermind of the American Imprints Inventory project 1937-1942.
 

One of McMurtrie's dozens of books and articles.

McMurtrie, trained as an engineer, became a first rank bibliophile.
 

The AII publication of California imprints, 1833-1855.
 

Note the rendering of broadsides in the California imprints checklist.