RENAISSANCE MAN:

The Reconstructed Libraries of European Scholars, 1450-1700

Series One The Books and Manuscripts of John Dee, 1527-1608

Parts 4 to 6: John Dee's Annotated Books from the Library of the Royal College of Physicians, London

Technical Note

Our microfilm publications have been prepared and produced in accordance with recommended and established guide-lines for the production of microform of superior quality. These conform to the recommendations of the standard guides to good microforming and micropublishing practice.

Attention should be drawn to the nature of the original material. Most of the material consists of printed books which are in very good condition. As with all rare printed sources the inking is variable. Darker and lighter inks, or a dark ink and a light pencil note, can appear on the same page. Some sections are difficult to read in the original. We have done everything we can to capture Dee’s annotations and marginalia as clearly as possible. There are a few instances when a volume has been stained, discoloured, or faded with exposure to light over a period of time. A few pages are torn, crumpled or cropped. Such problems are very few in number. A few printed volumes have severely damaged spines in the original. Some other volumes are quite tightly bound. Tight binding does pose a problem for filming this type of material and occasionally text may be slightly obscured in the inner margin. The curvature towards the spine of such volumes inevitably results in some distortion of the text. Special targets alluding to the tight binding of the original volume are included wherever this difficulty occurs. Sometimes the original paper is quite thin and this results in show through which can make the text difficult to read, but there are not many instances of this nature. Some volumes date back to the earliest days of printing. In some cases the pagination can be variable. There may be minor damage to the original due to the passage of time.

These original characteristics present difficulties of image and contrast which stringent tests, variations of light settings, density and camera alterations cannot entirely overcome. Every effort has been made to minimise these difficulties and some openings are microfilmed more than once in an attempt to bring out all the features of the original document. An A4 identification target providing the appropriate shelf mark is filmed at the front of every new item.

The staff of Bell & Howell Ltd, Micromedia Division, have exercised the most responsible care in the filming of this unique collection of printed books at the Royal College of Physicians and this microfilm publication meets the standards established by the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM), the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and prevailing European standards.

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