Texts Level:  Author

Definition:  Name(s) of author(s).

Comment:  If there is more than one author per text, separate the names by a semicolon, e. g. Guillaume de Lorris; Jean de Meung. If, however, the second name is not that of a joint author, but represents a different form of collaboration, please use the field, Other Associated Names. In the case of a collection of excerpts (florilegium; anthology; rapiarium) list the author names in the order in which they occur in the text (as much as is feasible, given that some names will repeat), then state the nature of the text in the Generic Title field.

PREMISES: The problems of medieval nomenclature make consistency in the form of names very difficult to achieve. The schematic approach to normalization of medieval nomenclature in this database depends on two premises: that the inputter has competency in medieval materials and his/her judgment is trustworthy; that the goal is to input material with the greatest possible dispatch and with the least possible research/authority-check time. Implicitly, we thus expect that end-users of the database will perform multiple searches for a given author, under multiple forms of a name. DS Central, in addition, builds a Browse List to amalgamate multiple forms of a single name; the Browse List will (generally speaking) help the user with the multiple forms, but only if the user works from the Browse List. If the user enters his search term directly into the Simple or the Advanced Search forms, his search will only produce the results that precisely match his search term.

LANGUAGE OF NAME--Major Authors: In this database, names of monarchs and other well known individuals appear in the form most familiar to English speakers (Frederick II; Catherine of Siena; Peter the Venerable); the English preposition "of" will also be used (but not exclusively) in preference to various Latin/other vernacular forms: David of Augsburg, not David von Augsburg or David Augustensis. It is recognized that the language of the names may be hybrid, incorporating both English and Latin words: Peter Comestor, not Peter the Eater, and not Petrus Comestor. It is also recognized that the most familiar form to English speakers may not be in English: Johannes de Sacro Bosco, not John of Holywood; Niccolò Machiavelli, not Nicholas Machiavelli. Names of Arabic philosophers will be cited in the form used in the Latin West, and commonly known to most scholars of the Middle Ages: Averroes (not Ibn-Rushd); Avicenna (not Ibn-Sina); the same holds for Jewish authors writing in Latin: Petrus Alfonsi (not Moise Sefardi). Results of accepted scholarship on the identities of medieval authors will be incorporated: Christine de Pizan, not Christine de Pisan.

LANGUAGE OF NAME--Lesser known Authors: Other authors will be referred to in the language consonant with their region of origin or chief activity: Marco Polo, because of his birth in Italy (not because of the original language of his writings, which would have produced a French form, "Marc Paul"); Franciscus Pipinus, because of his writings in Latin (not because of his birth in Italy, which would have produced Francesco Pipino). In points of uncertainty, consult the Regeln für die alphabetische Katalogisierung, vol. 6 in 2 pts., Personennamen des Mittelalters (Wiesbaden 1989), remembering that RAK-PMA privileges Latin.

LANGUAGE/FORM OF NAME--Unknown/Uncertain Authors: If an "author" identified himself or has been accepted under a pseudonym, that pseudonym will be used: Sir John Mandeville; Trotula. Pseudo (sic, without hyphen) and the name will be used for authors of those texts attributed during the Middle Ages to a real, and usually well known author, but now recognized as having been written by someone else, unknown to us: Pseudo Augustine.

WORD ORDER IN NAME: Names will retain normal order without inversion and without punctuation between first names and surnames, patronymics, adjectives, place names (Dante Alighieri; Giovanni Boccaccio; Peter Lombard; Thomas Aquinas); for some authors, the name will consist of a single word (Alcuin; Bede), esp. in the case of classical authors (Ovid, not Publius Ovidius Naso). If you, the cataloguer/inputter have doubts, look at the online Browse List for Authors.

ATTRIBUTES: The title of "Saint" will not be used when referring to someone in their status as author: Jerome, and not St. Jerome (although the qualification of St. will occur in iconography, where the medieval intent was indeed to emphasize him as saint). Other appellations will also be omitted whenever possible: Hugh of Cluny is equally as understandable as and preferable to Hugh, abbot of Cluny. On the other hand, when an author is normally known with a title as part of his name, the title will be used: Sir Philip Sidney. Other attributes may be included if normal/desired, in English when feasible: Philip the Good of Burgundy; Lorenzo il Magnifico de' Medici.

Example:

• Peter Comestor
• David of Augsberg
• Guillaume de Lorris; Jean de Meung
• Augustine
• Livy
• Christine de Pizan
• Ovid [and in the field for Other Associated Names, "Octavien de Saint-Gelais, transl."]

Properties:  Data type: text. Field size: 100 characters.

Required?:  No, as far as the database is concerned, but in fact one of the four necessary fields for text identification (author/title/generic title/incipit).