[Sca-cooks] when a v is a u

[Stefan li Rous]

Vincenzo mentioned:
> Jadwiga Zajaczkowa / Jenne Heise wrote:
> >> Chris Stanifer <jugglethis at yahoo.com> wrote:
> >> Why substitute 'v' for 'u'???
>
> Why?  "The scribe made me do it."
>
> > It's the nature of Cataloging. Rather than get involved in
> > trying to *interpret* the data, they try to _transcribe_
> > exactly as written. If the printer used a v for a u,
> > that's how they will transcribe it. No matter if they are
> > perfectly sure that it's meant to be a u instead.
I suspect that Chris knows this, but the alphabet has changed through 
history as well as different hands/fonts coming into use and out. For 
instance, the "W" was at one time written as a pair of "U"s. This "V" 
for where we would use a "U" is similar. There are multiple books 
written on this. You can find some comments and references on this in 
this Florilegium file:
alphabets-msg     (36K)  4/26/99    Alphabets and how they've changed.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/SCRIBAL-ARTS/alphabets-msg.html

There are a number of websites on this stuff as well. As to why the 
folks choosing a v or u for a book title, I imagine there are numerous 
reasons, including simple marketing, and no consistency. Whether the 
cataloguers should go with the original title or change it, probably 
also has opponents and proponents.

I guess remembering to check for a spelling with both a "u" or a "v" is 
one of the things librarians and serious researchers just learn to do. 
The "S" and "F" interchange is another I can think of. :-(
> This is traditional scribe behavior.
>
> AFIK, scribes in the middle ages routinely copied written
> works letter for letter even though they were written in
> a language they didn't read.
>
> For that matter, this also applies to cryptology in period.
> Expert cryptologists deciphered coded messages despite not
> being able to read the decoded text.
>
> Kahn; "Codebreakers"
I've heard of this book, but not read it yet. Here is a Florilegium 
files on this subject:
cryptography-msg  (23K) 12/20/99    Codes and codebreaking in period.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/UNCAT/cryptography-msg.html

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****