A shelfmark is a mark in a book or manuscript that denotes the cupboard or bookcase where it is kept as well as the shelf and possibly even its location on the shelf. The closely related term pressmark (from
press, meaning cupboard) denotes only the cupboard or case. It is distinct from a
call number, which is the code under which a book or manuscript is registered and which is used to identify it when ordering it. Sometimes a shelfmark or pressmark may be used as a call number, but in other cases the call number contains no information about the book's physical location. In certain American institutions, shelfmark and call number are combined to create a long code containing information on location, classification, size, binding, author and date.
[Peter Beal (ed.), ''A Dictionary of English Manuscript Terminology, 1450–2000'' (Oxford University Press, 2008), s.v]
"shelf-mark""press-mark"
an
"call number"
Shelfmarks originated in the early
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
, usually as combinations of numbers and letters, probably indicating the cupboard and shelf. Letters later came to be assigned to specific batch acquisitions. In the modern period, university libraries often organized their collections by subject and indicated the faculty in the shelfmark. As libraries grew larger, alphanumeric shelfmarks were augmented with
Greek letters and the
symbols of the zodiac.
[Michael F. Suarez and H. R. Woudhuysen (eds.), ''The Oxford Companion to the Book'' (Oxford University Press, 2010), s.v]
"shelfmark"
(by Richard Ovenden) an
"pressmark"
(by eds.). The
Cotton library
The Cotton or Cottonian library is a collection of manuscripts once owned by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton MP (1571–1631), an antiquarian and bibliophile. It later became the basis of what is now the British Library, which still holds the collecti ...
incorporates the names of
Roman emperors in it shelfmarks, based on the location of imperial busts in
Robert Cotton's original library.
[ Shelfmarking declined in the 19th century with the rise of classification schemes like ]Dewey Decimal Classification
The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC), colloquially known as the Dewey Decimal System, is a proprietary library classification system which allows new books to be added to a library in their appropriate location based on subject.
Section 4.1 ...
.[
Shelfmarks and pressmarks were usually written, inscribed or stamped on the pastedowns.][ When a book was moved, the old shelfmark was usually crossed out and a new one added.][ Old shelfmarks can sometimes provide valuable information about a manuscript's ]provenance
Provenance (from the French ''provenir'', 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object. The term was originally mostly used in relation to works of art but is now used in similar senses i ...
.[
]
See also
* Accession number (library science)
References
{{reflist
Library cataloging and classification