OCVE – like the Annotated Catalogue of Chopin’s First Editions, from which this glossary is derived – uses standard bibliographic terminology but also distinctive terms which are explained below, along with divergences from normal usage. Abbreviations appear in round brackets as relevant. Reference is made on occasion to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Additional details are provided in the Annotated Catalogue, including cross-references to specific impressions or copies which illustrate the terms in question.

Advertisement (advt)
Either announcements and other forms of publicity in the musical press or elsewhere, or, with reference to the contents of an edition, extracts from the publisher’s catalogue printed on one or more pages of a score and/or the wrapper enclosing it.
 
Album
1) ‘A blank book in which to insert autographs, memorial verses, original drawings, or other souvenirs.’ (OED, s.v. ‘Album’, 2). 2) Volumes of musical works often produced in several versions distinguished by the type of wrapper or cover. Like most scores, the simplest albums had a lightweight loose wrapper; a number of these were in effect softbound, with flyleaves attached to the wrapper. Mid-price versions were bound in a decorative card cover, while the most expensive albums were encased in card covered with richly embellished silk. (See ATP.)

Album title page (ATP): see Title page
 
Autograph
Manuscript notated by the composer. Technically an ‘autograph’ is a signed manuscript, versus an unsigned ‘holograph’. In OCVE the former is used to mean both, in keeping with general musical/musicological parlance.

Bar(s) (b., bs)
British term (cf. ‘measure’) for standard metrical units within the music text. Bar numbers are specified as wholes (e.g. 66–68, 213–214), not in abbreviated form (e.g. 66–8, 213–14).
 
Bifolium
A ‘pair of conjoint leaves’ (OED) comprising four pages.

 
Border
Denotes a decorative border which is simpler and less imposing than a frame (see Frame below).
 
Caption title (CT)
Text at the top of the first page of music text or in an analogous position elsewhere in an edition, stating the composer’s name, title of work, opus number, etc. (Cf. Headline.)
 
Common title page (CTP)
Title page used for constituent works within a given opus which are divided into more than one ‘book’ (Opp. 10, 25, 28) or published both as ‘sets’ and in separate editions (Opp. 9, 32, 34, 48, 64). The term is also used for title pages found in two or three different editions of single opuses, of pieces taken from different opuses and/or of works published without opus number. These include Wessel’s editions of Opp. 6 & 7; Schonenberger’s editions of Opp. 1, 2 & 5; Wessel’s separate reprints of Op. 26 No. 1 & Op. 40 No. 1; and Kocipiński’s editions of Wojak and Źyczenie. (See also Title page.)
 
Copy/ies
A specimen or exemplar of a given edition or impression (see OED, s.v. ‘Copy’, III.6.a). Occasional reference is made to a ‘scribal copy’, for instance in discussing a Stichvorlage used to prepare a score. It is clear from the context which type of copy is meant.
 
Copyright notice
Modern copyright notices in the form ‘Propriété des Editeurs’/’Propriété pour tous pays’/’Copyright of the Publishers’/’Eigenthum der Verleger’ can be found in most Chopin first editions. Equivalent or complementary forms – namely, ‘Enregistré aux Archives de l’Union’/’Eingetragen in das Vereins-Archiv.’ in the German states, and ‘Ent. Sta. Hall’ in England – often appear either to provide additional information or by way of substitution. The adapted form ‘deposit notices’ is used in certain cases. The absence of such notices could have occurred because of an oversight on the part of the publisher or, more frequently, because the piece in question was in the public domain.
 
Corrected reprint: see Reprint
 
Cover
Designates a hard cover in card or similar stock, forming an integral part of an album or volume.

Dedication
Used either in the general sense of ‘the dedicating of a book, etc.; the form of words in which a writing, engraving, etc., is dedicated to some person’ (OED), or, more specifically, pages or leaves specially reserved for the name of a dedicatee (see Witness overviews).
 
Deposit notice: see Copyright notice
 
Edition/impression code
Code assigned to each entry in the Annotated Catalogue of Chopin’s First Editions comprising opus number or short title, number of the edition followed by a letter designating the relevant impression, and siglum of the publisher. (See Witness overviews.)
 
Engraved (engr)
Denotes the use of an intaglio printing method on the basis of engraved copper or zinc plates (cf. Lithographed and Lithographic transfer below).
 
Fair copy
OED: ‘The condition of a document copied after final correction; also, written material transcribed after correction.’

Footline (FL)
Text at bottom of page principally within the music text, including such features as plate number, name and address of publisher, copyright notice, name of series, etc. (See Witness overviews.)
 
Format
Used to denote both the shape or orientation of a score (e.g. ‘oblong format’; see OED, s.v. ‘Format’, 1.a) and the ‘style or manner of arrangement or presentation’ thereof (e.g. ‘10-leaf format’; see OED, s.v. ‘Format’, 1.b; cf. also ‘Collation’, 4.b).

Frame
Denotes a richly decorated frame more prominent than a relatively simple border (see Border above).

Gloss
Word(s), figure(s), fingering(s), etc. added by hand in a printed edition or, occasionally, a manuscript, either by way of comment, explanation or interpretation (see OED, s.v. ‘Gloss’).

Half-title (HT)
Short title page summarising information on the main title page, found in addition to an ITP or STP, introducing constituent works or sections within a volume, or appearing on front wrappers.
 
Headline (HL)
Line of text (usually a running title) above the music text in certain editions, centred at the top of the page.
 
Impression
An issue of an edition which consists of either the original impression, a later reprint or a special reprint. The term is used whether or not all copies thereof were printed at the same time. It is also employed to refer to the quality of print.
 
Imprint
Text printed in small characters and located at the bottom of certain pages, containing summary information about the publisher, engraver, lithographer or printer. By extension, also used to describe text below lithographed portraits or facsimiles.
 
Individual title page (ITP)
Title page particular to an edition published in one volume, whether of a single work, an opus comprising more than one constituent piece, or another multipartite collection. (See also Title page.)
 
Leaf
Either a singleton or one half of a bifolium, consisting in either case of two pages formed by the front (recto/obverse) and back (verso/reverse).
 
Lithograph
A decorative image on one of the initial pages of a volume, reproduced by a lithographic method. Such images depicting a person are designated ‘lith. portrait’.
 
Lithographed (lith)
Denotes a technique of printing from a lithographic stone or other flat surface, as distinct from engraving. The title pages of most German first editions of Chopin were produced by means of this method. Lithographed music text generally derives from lithographic transfer (see below).
 
Lithographic transfer
Process whereby the contents of engraved plates were transferred onto limestone and then reproduced on an impression plate for subsequent printing.
 
Logo
Refers to Breitkopf & Härtel’s printed oval imprint centred at the bottom of ITPs and STPs and containing a lyre framed by the name of the firm on both sides and an asterisk underneath.
 
Passe-partout: see Series title page (see also Title page)
 
Plate number
Printed at the bottom of the page, this literally refers to the number of the plates assigned to an edition by the publisher. It may consist only of numerals but equally could include the publisher’s initials. Works published in volumes may have several plate numbers, e.g. one for the piano part and another for the orchestral parts.
 
Postscript
Explanatory text found at the end of an edition (cf. Preface); this includes the displaced prefatory material found at the end of the reprints released by A. M. Schlesinger.
 
Preface
Explanatory text found at the beginning of an edition (cf. Postscript).
 
Preliminaries
Leaves at the beginning of a volume including such features as the series title page, decorative lithographs, tissue paper, dedications, preface, contents list, etc.
 
Printed
Refers to a printing method using movable type (letterpress) or some other technique apart from engraving or lithography.
 
Proof
Term used in OCVE for the rare surviving copies that preceded publication. All lack title pages except for Op. 37 and the Méthode des Méthodes volume. The edition/impression codes used for such proofs feature a ‘0’ as their second element (e.g. 35–0-TR).
 
Publication date
Date when an edition appeared on the market and when its physical existence can be assumed.
 
Public manuscript
Manuscript intended not for personal use (e.g. sketch) but rather as a Stichvorlage, presentation manuscript, etc.

Registration date
Date when an edition was registered. Equivalent to publication date in the case of editions released in France (apart from five proof copies) and the German states. In England, it often concerns the registration of the title only and does not necessarily imply the physical existence of an edition, given that deposit copies could be provided at a later date.
 
Reprint
A second or later impression of a previously printed edition. The fact that print runs tended to be small meant that reprints appeared in rapid succession. The middle component of the edition/impression code of first reprints (i.e. second impressions) ends with ‘a’, while the following letters of the alphabet are employed for subsequent reprints.
 
An impression is referred to as a ‘corrected reprint’ only when changes have been made to the music text. Modifications to any other part of an edition – irrespective of their nature or proximity to the music text – are designated otherwise. The corrections in numerous reprints, which may in fact have introduced new errors, encompass the music text as well as one or more of the elements just cited. In the Annotated Catalogue of Chopin’s First Editions the term is also used in combination with other descriptors or qualifiers such as ‘corrected reprint in separate editions’ and ‘corrected reprint with modified title page’. Alternatively, in certain contexts it may be replaced by ‘lithographic transfer’, ‘Titelauflage’ or ‘special impression’.
 
Second, third, etc. edition
Used only when the entire music text of an edition has been newly engraved or – in a single case, 69–2-Sam – where over 50 per cent thereof was generated from new plates in comparison with the preceding impression. The successive impressions of all other editions – including those produced using new plates but to a lesser proportion than the aforementioned 50 per cent – are referred to as ‘corrected reprints’.
 
Series title page (STP)
Title page intended for use in multiple publications without significant adaptation (cf. Krummel and Sadie 1990: 522), containing either the title of and summary information about the collection, or the title and complete list of works therein.
 
Shelfmark
A numeric or alphanumeric reference code indicating the location of given scores in the libraries that hold them; these are found immediately after the relevant library siglum.
 
Signature stamp
A stamp that imitates or resembles a handwritten signature (griffe in French). Most stamps of this kind are facsimiles of the publisher’s signature or present the name and sometimes the address of the firm (see also Stamp).
 
Singleton
A single leaf (i.e. without conjugate) included in an edition comprising an odd number of leaves; typically found in the middle of a score. The presence of such leaves is not explicitly signalled in this catalogue but can be inferred from the descriptions.
 
Staff
Set of five horizontal lines used to indicate pitch. Reference is made here to treble, bass, right-hand and left-hand staves. The term also serves as a counterpart to ‘system’ (see below) when describing the Grand Duo Concertant, the instrumental parts of the works with orchestra, and Opp. 3, 8 & 65, most notably with regard to the variable positioning of sub-captions.
 
Stamp
Denotes a stamped imprint containing text such as publishers’ names and addresses, sales agents, former owners, libraries, etc.
 
Stichvorlage
Literally ‘engraving model’; refers more generally to a source, or base text, used in the preparation of engraved plates or other print masters. In the case of Chopin’s first editions, various types of Stichvorlage were employed, including autograph manuscripts, scribal copies, and corrected or uncorrected proofsheets from other editions.
 
Sub-caption (SC)
Text on the left of the first system or staff of either a single composition or one comprising several movements or independent works; usually consists of title and ordinal number of the piece and may also include tempo indications, metronome marks, etc.
 
System
Two or more staves joined by a brace (or, less commonly, barlines). The descriptions in OCVE generally refer to systems of paired staves in accordance with standard pianistic notation.
 
Tissue paper
Sheet of fine, translucent paper intended to protect a decorative lithograph.
 
Titelauflage
Term of German origin used by bibliographers to describe a reprint with new title page. In OCVE it occurs most frequently with regard to the definitive replacement of an individual title page by another ITP, of a title page by a series title page, or of a STP by a new STP. The term implicitly applies to the arrangements of chamber works and to reprints with STPs (usually brought out in separate editions) which were marketed in parallel with the original versions (published in volumes and with ITPs). It is explicitly used, however, in describing Gebethner’s separate editions of the Songs Op. 74 (see the information on subsequent reprints in the source description), the modified STP of which appeared in later reprints of the volume. In addition, the term is used in combination with other descriptors or qualifiers such as ‘corrected Titelauflage’, ‘Titelauflage/reprint in separate editions’ and ‘Titelauflage/corrected lithographic transfer’.
 
Title page (TP)
Used in abbreviated form to designate a title page of a general kind, or a more specific type such as album title page (ATP), individual title page (ITP), common title page (CTP) or passe-partout/series title page (STP).
 
Wrapper
Folded bifolium of finer, often coloured paper or similar stock which could be detached from the score that it enclosed.