Dates, errors in

Encoding Instructions (old P4 version)

In cases where dates contain typographical errors, the WWP’s policy is as follows:

1. The value of the when attribute on date or docDate will be the value of what is printed on the page, not the corrected value. Note that it’s important to distinguish between typographical errors and discrepancies resulting from old-style dating (see 138).

2. Within date or docDate we use sic with a corr value to correct the typographical error. If the date is printed in roman numerals, then the corr value should also be roman numerals.

It is important to distinguish a typographical error in a date from a date which is simply wrong, or which is expressed in a different calendar system (e.g. old-style dates, in which the new year started in March, leading to potential confusion for modern readers). A document may record an incorrect date through the ignorance or intention of the author, and in these cases, we do not correct the date using the corr attribute. If there seems to be a real risk that the reader might suspect an error on the WWP’s part, we will use sic to confirm that the anomaly lies with the original.