Figures

Abstract

Encoding of figures and illustrations using figure; handling of text within figures; discussion of the WWP’s changes to the content model of figure

figure image transcription emblem decoration
figure figDesc

Encoding Instructions (new P5 version)

Graphic features of the page which are representational (for instance, emblems, heraldry, portraits, illustrations, and the like) should be encoded using figure and figDesc. We do not include any reproduction of the image in our encoded file (which would ordinarily go on the entity attribute within the figure tag). Instead we provide a very brief description of the figure, including a transcription of any text that is part of the figure itself, within figDesc. The contents of the figDesc element will be shown to the user in place of the image. In order to be considered a figure rather than a rule or an ornament, the figure must have considerable representational value, not simply ornamental or decorative. See 107 for more on rules and ornaments.

The WWP has made some modifications to the content model of figure, since we find that the figures in the texts we deal with have somewhat different structures. Where TEI allows paragraphs of text to appear before the image itself (to accommodate a caption or accompanying descriptive paragraph), the WWP also allows verse lines to appear in that location, and we allow paragraphs or verse lines to follow the image as well.

Text is often closely associated or intermingled with figures, and we have three different places where this text may be encoded, depending on the nature of its relationship with the image content.

1. Any headings associated with the figure should be encoded within head before the figDesc element.

2. Any text appearing within the graphic itself should be briefly quoted (within quote) in the figDesc and transcribed in full within text following the figDesc. If the text within the figure is extensive, only the first few words need to be quoted within figDesc, just enough to identify it with the full transcription within text. If there is more than one separate piece of text within the figure, each piece should be transcribed in text within a separate p or lg element. Pieces which are visually separate but logically continuous (e.g. “Hail to” on one side and “the chief” on the other) should be transcribed as a single unit within text.

3. Any captions or epigraphs associated directly with the figure, or printed at the top or bottom of the figure (possibly even inside its frame) should be encoded within a p or lg element preceding or following the figDesc element. The question of whether a piece of text should be encoded in this way, or within the text element, will sometimes be a judgment call; our aim is for text which logically “precedes” or “follows” the figure--whether a caption, a list of people pictured, etc.--to be encoded in a p preceding or following the figDesc, even if this text is engraved on the same plate as the rest of the image. The text within text should be only that which is truly mingled with the image content of the figure.

There are also cases where it may be difficult to determine whether text immediately preceding or following the figure should be associated with the figure at all: that is, whether it should be encoded within the figure element in one of the ways described above, or should be encoded as part of the ordinary stream of the text. This will necessarily be a judgment call. Text which is associated directly with the figure--not just referring to it, but logically associated with it--should be encoded within figure. The criterion for whether something is “associated directly” with a figure is whether it would naturally be included with the figure if the figure were excerpted from the text. (Compare examples 1 and 2.)

Examples

Example 1: <figure> <figDesc>An engraved portrait of
          Elizabeth I carrying an olive branch, with a map of the Americas in the background, and
          the words <quote>Honi soit qui mal y pense</quote> embroidered
          onto her sleeve.</figDesc>
          <text><body><p>Honi soit qui mal y
          pense</p></body></text> <p>Our
          Gratious Queene, in the 22 yeere of her rayne</p> </figure>
          Note that within <text>, only <body> and <p> are
          required (no <div> necessary). 
 Example2: <div><p>A noted Entomologist, who says he combed
          the nether regions of his Garden in search of the Wooly Centipede, at last concluded that
          this fugitive Insect spawns only in the Winter, with a Grub in the following form:
          <figure><head>The Grub of the Wooly
          Centipede</head> <figDesc>A woodcut of a centipede larva
          curled up on a leaf</figDesc> <p
          rend="slant(italic)">Centipedula Lanifera</p> </figure>
          Its legs do not develop until the summer, when it assumes its familiar shape.
          </p></div>