Miscellaneous compilation guidelines

Sampling population

Founders' Library, University of Wales, Lampeter, in particular the Tract Collection (containing 828 volumes containing 11,395 relatively short pieces (i.e. tracts and pamphlets) published between 1520 and 1843). This collection has been shown to be reasonably representative of the ephemeral publishing of its time.

Authorship guidelines

• avoidance of anonymous texts as far as possible
• each author included only once
• composite and institutional authorship allowed (e.g. East India Company)

Texts

• complete texts only
• no literary texts
• no newspapers or newsbooks (covered in ZEN)
• text length: minimum of 3,000 words – maximum 25,000 words
• only first editions of texts (later, but still contemporary, ones only if substantial rewriting has taken place) – no modern editions!