Notation Guide

This guide is organised according to the incremental logic of the ANSELMUS system, reflecting the transition from material data to editorial interpretation.

Atomic Textual Units — Minimal units of textual segmentation that cannot contain or nest other notations within themselves.

Phenomena — A set of notations designed to describe the state of the textual tradition, the condition of the support, and the variations that occurred during the genesis or transmission of the text.

Critical and Editorial Apparatus — A set of notations for the meta-textual phenomena that constitute the philological analysis of the inscribed text. Includes assessments of epistemicity and interpretative plausibility, discursive critical apparatus notes, linguistic annotations, and bibliography.

Formatting and Internal Annotation — Tools dedicated to managing typographic emphasis and inserting metatextual comments. Includes markers for graphic relief (bold, italics) and documentation features for internal use (line or block comments) not intended for the publication of the critical text.

Each phenomenon is documented atomically, systematically listing the combinations defined by the AST. However, for the sake of clarity, the treatment follows a maximum nesting depth of two levels: when phenomenon A may contain phenomenon B, the manual illustrates the case A(B) in the section dedicated to A, referring the reader to B’s own section for a full account of what B may itself contain.

Unless otherwise stated, any phenomenon that admits internal content accepts all phenomena compatible with the physical/editorial distinction documented in each section.