I am interested in knowing whether or not it was ever a common practice to
use catchwords in manuscript. I am looking at a 1783 German edition of
William Lewis' New Dispensatory (Neues englisches allgemeines
Dispensatorium)in which the front fly leaf has been filled with a numbered
list, which appears to be a list of steps for preparation and use of a plant
called Astragalus excapus {A. exscapus in Hortus 3), attributed to Professor
Carminati (Bassiano Carminati, Italian physician and medical writer,
1750-1830); my literacy in German script is quite low, I'm afraid, there are
only a few terms I can make out. The item in question is lower right recto,
in usual catchword position, where the writer has inscribed "7.)", serving
as a catchword for the first item verso. Since this list is only two pages
long on a single leaf, already bound in, and presumably for the writer's own
convenience and use, I can see no practical reason for such catchword
useage. I am not well acquainted with manuscript practice of the period
(the list is dated 31 July 1790), but I don't recall seeing this use before
and am curious as to whether this is something I've overlooked, simply a
idiosyncrasy of the writer, common practice generally or specifically in c18
Germany, or some other explanation. I have always thought that catchwords
were the practice in printing rather than manuscript; the newly posted Roger
Gaskell glossary agrees that it was a printing practice.
Thanks for any help you can offer.
John Renjilian
The Pages of Yesteryear
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