2. Coding Conventions

For the Corpus of Early English Correspondence Sampler (as well as the full corpus) we have adopted the text level coding used in the Helsinki Corpus of English Texts with some minor alterations. This manual includes a brief list of the conventions, for a more detailed account see Kytö (comp. 1996).

2.1. Text-Level Coding

The main codes for the text level concern the rendering of special characters and the partial inclusion of textual commentary. The conventions adopted from the Helsinki Corpus are listed below

feature	in edition	in corpus
superscript	wch	w=ch=
abbreviation	promocõns	promoco˜ns
accents	Trenyté	Trenyte`
(acute, grave and circumflex are not differentiated)
thorn (upper case)	Þe	+Te
(lower case)	þis +tis
yogh (upper case)	Z orke	+Gorke
(lower case)	Z e	+ge
pound sign	£4	+L4

Code Brackets:

2.2. Parameter Coding

The parameter coding is a stripped version of the Helsinki Corpus parameters. Each collection is preceded with the ‘name of text file’

<B STONOR>

followed by source information

[^SAMPLE 1 = THE STONOR LETTERS AND PAPERS, 1290-1483. VOLS. I-II. ED. BY KINGSFORD, CHARLES LETHBRIDGE. CAMDEN THIRD SERIES, 29, 30. 1919. SAMPLE 2 = SUPPLEMENTARY STONOR LETTERS AND PAPERS, 1324-1482. ED. BY KINGSFORD, CHARLES LETHBRIDGE. CAMDEN MISCELLANY 13. CAMDEN THIRD SERIES 34. 1923.^]

Each letter is preceded by the ‘text identifier’

<Q STO 1424 T1STONOR>

where a three-letter collection code (see Index of Collection Codes) is followed by date and writer code (see Index of Writer Codes). When the year of the letter is known it is given precisely, as in the example above. If the date is conjectural it is followed by a question mark. When a precise year cannot be suggested the decade is given (please note that 1500S and 1600S indicate the first decade of each century). If even the decade is uncertain, there may be a question mark following the decade.

Next in the coding, each ‘text identifier’ is followed by the ‘author’ code, giving the full name of the writer or, in some cases, the title.

<A THOMAS STONOR1> <A ABBOT OF NORTON>

We use the combination of first and last name to identify writers, although some are perhaps better known by their title. So, for example, Lord Burghley is in this corpus consistently William Cecil. This makes it easier to keep track of people who gain new titles year by year, and solves the problem of recreation of titles, as a result of which the various dukes of Norfolk, for instance, might not be related to each other. Writers with the same name are identified by numerals (Thomas Stonor 1, 2, and 3). Kings and Queens are given their titles (e.g. Edward VI) even before coronation. Other royalty are assigned a family name (e.g. Henry Stuart, Prince of Wales). Women have one name throughout, regardless of name changes due to marriage (e.g. Jane Cornwallis remains Cornwallis even after becoming Lady Bacon). Headings of letters often give further information about titles and names. The identification of people and dates may come from a source other than the edition used. In the Plumpton letters we have used the new edition (Kirby 1996) for these purposes, but retained the text from the old edition. Also in the Marchall collection we have benefited from the earlier edition (Lyell 1934).