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Explanation of the fields
How to search
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Browse motifs

 

Explanation of the fields

Searching for watermarks:

Description: a description of the watermark and its elements.  A list of all descriptions can be found by clicking on the Index at the right side of the field. Selecting one, will load it in the search field.

Position: position of the watermark on the sieve: left or right.

Distance chainlines: distance of the chainlines between which the watermark is positioned in mm. Searching with a margin of 1 mm on either side is recommended; this may be done by inserting 2 numbers, separated with a [space].

Height: height of the watermark in mm. This is measured only in folio editions. Searching with a margin of 1 mm on either side is recommended; this may be done by inserting 2 numbers, separated with a [space].

Watermark number: the unique number that identifies the watermark in WILC.

Density:  density of laid lines. 

Equivalent group:  group of identical watermarks taken from different editions. These groups help to find out when the same paper was used for different editions, sometimes even by different printers.

Reproduction: describes the technique that has been used to reproduce the watermark.

Notes: additional information.

Briquet: reference to Briquet.

Piccard: reference to Piccard

Other Watermark references: references to watermark reference works, other than Briquet and Piccard.

Mainclass IPH: mainclass to which the watermark belongs according to the IPH-standard

Searching for sources: 

Place of printing: place where the book was printed.

Printer: name of the printer.

Date of printing: date as given in the incunable.

Date deduced: date deduced on basis of research.

Deduction base:  base for the deduction of the date.

Bibliographical references: references to the edition (ILC, Campbell). 

Paper size: paper size.

Format: bibliographical format of incunable.

Institution: whereabouts of the copy used.

Shelf number: shelf number of the copy used (not always given; mostly from KB) 

How to search

Above the search screen the user can define the number of hits, the number of lines in the page, the sorting and element and search for motifs using structure search.

Number of hits: the maximum number of hits limits your search results and your computers' processing time in case there are many results. You can change this maximum as you like, the form will remember your last used maximum.

Sorting: the results can be sorted through clicking on the capitals in the different columns

Structure search: this offers a possibility to browse the motifs of the watermarks. Clicking on the blue arrow at the right searches on the term before the arrow; clicking on the term opens a subdivision.
The 39 group names (from acorn to wheel, ending with a miscellaneous group) can be found under structure search. Clicking on an entry will open a subgroup (if available), that may be further divided as can been seen when clicking on the name of the subgroup. The subgroups follow partly their own system: the larger the main group, the more subgroups will branch from it. The large main groups are bull, dog, hand, pot and the two main groups with the most records letter p and shield. In the last no heraldic terms have been used with the exception of bends, the direction of the bends being indicated by / or to differentiate further between subgroups. When a subgroup is not further divided, an attached image is shown. Clicking on the arrow next to a subgroup, will start a search for the item. To leave this screen without selecting an item, scroll up or down and choose cancel.

Search: to search the database one can use the 'Search all fields box' in the left part of the screen or use the advanced search form. One can search on different metadata; when using two (or more); the standard boolean option is AND. The standard option is not exact; in that case, it does not make any difference whether you use capital or lower case letters.

In the WILC database can be searched for watermarks (upper part of the Advanced Search screen) and for sources, the books from which te watermarks were taken (lower part of the search screen).

Index / Pick list: At the right side of the search box either an index of the element or a pick list is offered. Clicking the selected term will load it in the search box.

Searching multiple fields: you can match your criteria using the operators 'and' (default) or 'or'. 'And' will give results matching all of the search terms, 'or' will give results matching any of the search terms. when searching multiple fields, the standard Boolean combination is AND.

Searching with wildcards: one can use [?] or [*]

Searching for a range (from ... to): when searching "from ... to" use a [space].  For example: if you want to search from 11 mm to 15 mm, insert "11 15". This can also be started or followed by an [?]. I.e.: searching for all watermarks up to 1480, enter ? - 1480.  To search for e.g. all watermarks with height smaller than 40 mm, you can fill in '0' and '40' in the search box. Also for all watermarks in sources printed from 1480, fill in '1480' and for example '1600' separated with a [space]

Thumbnails: by checking the show thumbnails box you can choose for small, clickable images of the watermarks in the presentation of the results.

Clear button: The clear button refreshes the page.

Search History: via the option Search History in the left frame, one can see what has been searched in this session and older result lists can be retrieved.

Results

Number of hits: when the number of records found exceeds the maximum number, you can either raise the maximum or narrow your search.

Sorting: If you did not specify a sorting order for the results, they are sorted firstly by description, secondly by equivalents group. Under year of printing the date of printing in the incunable itself is mentioned, and if not known, the deduced date. When you choose to sort by year of printing the incunables of which only a deduced date is known come first in order.

Selection: results can be selected by choosing the box left of the description; above the results list is a possibility to select or deselect all and to view the selection. Selections can also be retrieved using the option Selections in the frame at the left.

Gallery view: this option (above the results list) gives the possibility to see all images of the results arranged in one view.
Note: when selecting multiple entries, please use Ctrl-key when selecting.

Complete description: clicking the watermark number will give the complete watermark record. From this description, you can click certain elements, that are indicated with a color.  Clicking an image in the results page as well as in the report will open a new window showing a magnification of the watermark image. It is possible to open more windows to directly compare watermarks.

Bibliographical description of the source: to retrieve a complete description of the object from which the watermark was taken, use the link to ISTC

Browse motifs

Motifs can be browsed with structure search.  Clicking on structure search opens an list of motifs. Clicking on an entry will open a subgroup (if available), that may be further divided as can been seen when clicking on the name of the subgroup.  When a subgroup is not further divided, an attached image is shown. Clicking on the arrow next to a subgroup is will start a search for the item. To leave this screen without selecting an item, scroll down and choose cancel.

Koninklijke Bibliotheek - National Library of the Netherlands