The manuscript description element ( <msDesc> ) is part of the source description ( <sourceDesc> ) in the TEI header. See the Manuscript Description chapter of the TEI Guidelines for information about all the component elements.

Different manuscripts will have different kinds of information available about them to encode: for instance, not all manuscripts can be dated with precision; provenance information might be unclear, the scribe might be unknown. Furthermore, not all editions will encode all information about a given manuscript: for instance, it is up to the editors how much codicographical or paleographical information will be given. Each anthology lead and manuscript editor will have to determine what will be the most use for readers of the edition to encode. We recommend that the information about manuscripts be primarily in a textual essay in a separate file, in keeping with other LEMDO practices; this essay would then be available to readers in the textual introduction.

There are two main ways of encoding information in manuscript description: as values that can be machine-processed or as blocks of text that could form a catalogue entry or part of a critical introduction.

The Manuscript Identifier should contain key information about where the manuscript is located: a place (often using the <settlement> tag); a repository; and any identifiers such as shelfmark or manuscript number.

A sample manuscript identifier would look like this:

The repository @ref points to the repository in the LEMDO orgography. We recommend not abbreviating the names of collections in <idno> ; that is, use MS English poetry rather than, for instance, MS Eng. poet. Note: the placement of the abbreviation MS can vary according to repository (for instance, sometimes people cite BL Add. MS and sometimes people cite BL MS Add. for manuscripts in the British Library’s Additional collection); we recommend being consistent within anthologies.

If a manuscript has more than one number that identifies it, for instance, a catalogue number different from a manuscript number, <altIdentifier> can be used to offer both identifying numbers.

Following the manuscript identification in the header, encoders can choose to describe the contents of a manuscript using <msContents> , which contains <msItem> s. Some manuscripts will have only one item (say, a play); others, like British Library Egerton MS 1994, will have multiple items beyond a single play. It is up to the editor and anthology lead how much detail to include in <msContents> .

Here is a sample of how the first plays of BL Egerton MS 1994 would be encoded.

The physical description of a manuscript appears in the <physDesc> element in the header (which is nested in <msDesc> ). It is not required to offer a physical description of a manuscript, and each anthology lead will decide the level of granularity of information they wish to offer.

Information that can appear in the physical description includes, for instance, a description of the support (paper, vellum, etc), watermarks, foliation, and/or condition. Currently, LEMDO does not use the full TEI tagset for describing manuscripts, so the information is offered in prose. This prose can appear in <ab> tags:

Many LEMDO editors, including DRE editors, will choose to prepare a textual essay to accompany their text. We recommend following the DRE guidelines on the textual essay and including the relevant information (for instance, provenance, relation of your manuscript to other sources, binding, hands/scribes, and other information about the material text).