Manuscript Citation Guide

Going Further: Shelfmarks, Catalogue Numbers and Facsimiles

A citation becomes truly useful when another reader can find exactly the same source you used. For Biber manuscripts, that means going beyond the library's name and recording the shelfmark (also called a call number or signature). This is the unique identifier the archive assigns to each item, and it is usually the first thing a librarian will ask for. Copy it exactly as the institution gives it, including any abbreviations, punctuation or volume numbers.

Use RISM sigla where you can

Musicologists commonly identify libraries by their RISM siglum, a short code made up of a country prefix and a library abbreviation. These codes come from the Répertoire International des Sources Musicales, the long-running international project that catalogues music sources. Pairing the siglum with the shelfmark gives a compact reference that specialists recognise immediately. It is also a good habit to search the RISM online catalogue yourself, because its entries often record copyists, watermarks and related sources.

Distinguish the work from the source

Many Biber pieces survive in a single manuscript copy, and some are known only from printed editions, so be clear about which one you are citing. The famous Rosary (Mystery) Sonatas, for example, survive in a manuscript held in Munich. If you consulted a modern critical edition, a facsimile or a digitised scan instead of the original, say so, and give the editor, publisher and year of that edition alongside the original manuscript details. Where a work has a catalogue number from a published work list, include it so that readers can match your reference to recordings and editions.

A practical checklist

• Composer, work title (and any variant titles found on the source)
• Holding library, ideally with its RISM siglum
• Shelfmark, plus folio or page numbers for the passage you discuss
• Type of source: autograph, copyist's manuscript, print or facsimile
• Format consulted: original, microfilm or online scan, with the date you accessed it

For background on the surviving sources themselves, see our manuscripts overview. When a citation leads you on to a performance, our recordings page can help you compare interpretations against the sources.