such as Churchwardens' Accounts, should certainly not be transcribed 

 and printed otherwise than in full. It is far better in both cases to do 

 a portion thoroughly than the whole imperfectly. 



REVISION AND COLLATION OP COPIES. 



The decipherment of old Kegisters is, as already pointed out, a 

 work of considerable difficulty, and it is therefore strong-ly recom- 

 mended that in cases where the transcribers have no great previous 

 experience, they should obtain the help of some competent reader to 

 collate the transcript with the original. 



It should be remembered that in many cases transcripts are pre- 

 served in the Bishops' Registries and a reference to these will often 

 till up a void, clear up a difficulty or supply an omission. It occasionally 

 happens that the original Registers are preserved as well as later 

 Transcripts ; in such cases, the two should be collated and all variations 

 noted. 



PUBLICATION. 



With regard to the publication of Registers, the Committee have 

 carefully considered the question of printing in abbre\nated or index 

 form and have come to the conclusion to strongly recommend that the 

 publication should be in full, not only for the reasons given for 

 transcription, but because the extra trouble and expense is so small 

 and the value so very much greater. 



There seems, however, no objection, in either case, to the use of 

 contractions of formal words of constant recuiTence. A list of some of 

 these is adjoined : 



Bap.: baptized. Bac. : bachelor. 



Mar. : married. Spin. : spinster. 



Bur. : buried. Wid. : widow or ^vidower. 



Dau. : daughter. 



With regard to entries of marriage after Lord Hardwicke's Act of 

 1752, it is suggested that the form of entry may be simpUfied by the 

 omission of formal phrases, but care should be taken not to omit any 

 record of fact, however apparently unimportant, such for instance as 

 the names of witnesses, ministers, occupation, etc. 



It is essential in all cases that an Index should be given and that 

 the Christian names should be given with the surnames. 



It is believed that many Registers remain unprinted owing to an 

 exaggerated idea of the cost of printing and binding. Reasonable 

 estimates for these might, probably, often be obtained from local 

 presses which would be interested in the publication. 



No absolute rule as to size and type can be laid down, but on this 

 and other questions the Standing Committee will always be glad to 

 give advice. It is probable that demy octavo or foolscap quarto will 

 be found the most convenient sizes. 



