A Guide to the Information in the EEBS Dataset

Original Text: A transcription of the original subscription entry.

Title: The title, if stated, from the original subscription entry.

• If an individual included doctoral degree information after their name (M.D, L.L.D., etc) the title “Dr.” was added, if not already present.
• Members of the peerage have their rank listed, rather than their title of address, when stated. E.G: “CHARLES Duke of Albermarle” would have “Duke” not “Lord” as his title.
• College libraries which subscribed are listed as “College”

First Name: The subscriber’s first name if recorded in the original text.

Last Name: The subscriber’s last name if recorded in the original text.

• This may be the title if a member of the peerage did not include their family name. E.G: “CHARLES Duke of Albermarle” has “Albermarle” as his last name.

Class Status: The class status of the subscriber as indicated by title or description. Persons can be categorized as one of four classes: Royalty, Nobility, Gentry, or Middling.

• Royalty: The King, Queen, and any of their direct heirs.
• Nobility: Someone designated with the title Earl, Duke, Marquess/Marchioness, Viscount/Vicountess, Baron, Lord, or The Honorable (a designation allowed for the direct heirs of a * member of the peerage).
• Gentry: Membership in the gentry in seventeenth-century England was ambiguous and shifting. In this project, anyone described as “Gent” or “Esq” is included in the category, as are knights and baronets. In general, gentry status indicated the individual had a coat of arms and owned land from which they derived most of their income. Many members of the gentry also served in local or national government. Since the wives of knights and baronets could be styled ‘Lady,’ women with the designation of ‘Lady’ and no other status markers have been classed as gentry.
• Middling: Anyone lacking a noble title or a marker of gentry status.

Presumed Gender: The presumed gender of human subscribers, either male or female, based on first names or title.

• Universities are classed as male since they were all-male environments.

Formal Education: The highest degree achieved by an individual subscriber, based upon title, listed degree, or profession.

• NA (female): women were excluded from England’s universities in the seventeenth century so they could not take a degree. Still, many women, and some elite men, achieved advanced educations without attending university through private tutoring, like Anne Wentworth Watson, Lady Rockingham, who could write in Latin.
• Bachelor’s: Anyone with a B.A., B.D., S.T.B., L.L.B., or a profession that required a bachelor’s, such as being a schoolmaster, being a college fellow, or practicing law.
• Master’s: The M.A. degree granted by Oxford and Cambridge in the seventeenth century was an honorary degree, granted several years after an individual received their bachelor’s degree. It generally indicated that the individual was teaching as a member of the university. Anyone designated as a “Fellow” of a college is therefore listed as having a master’s.
• Doctorate: Anyone with an M.D, D.D., S.T.D., L.L.D. or the title “Dr.”

Industry: The industry a subscriber worked in, based upon their general profession or by their degrees, if no profession was stated.

• Administration: Work associated with record keeping or secretarial tasks.
• Artisan: Any work based upon manual labor.
• Clergy: Anyone described as a member of the clergy or with a divinity degree.
• Book Trade: Work based on printing, publishing, or bookselling.
• Education: Anyone described as a teacher, professor, student, or member of a university.
• Government: Anyone with a government post, or who served the crown or the royal household.
• Landed Elite: Anyone without a stated profession who was a member of the gentry or nobility. They were probably involved with the administration of local or national government in various ways, but much of their income would have come from their estates. Law: Any work associated with practicing the law or anyone with a law degree.
• Medicine: Any work associated with medicine or anyone with a medical degree.
• Military: Any work associated with the military or anyone with a military title.
• Music: Any work associated with music.
• Retail: Any work dependent on selling goods.
• Unknown (female): The industry of middling-status women is listed as “Unknown (female),” not because they did not work, but because their profession was highly unlikely to be recorded. In addition to managing households, many women worked in various trades alongside their male relatives or as widows.

Profession General: Each individual’s stated profession, with some generalizations to aid in visualizations, especially concerning royal appointments. There was only ever one Clerk of the Spicery, for example, a position in the royal household. However, there were many other positions in the royal household, so these have all been classed as “Royal Household.”

• Members of the nobility without a stated profession have their title listed as their profession, reflecting that much of their wealth came from their estates.
• Members of the gentry without a stated profession have “Gentry” listed as their profession, reflecting that much of their wealth came from their estates.
• College Member: Someone who listed a college affiliation but no with further information defining whether they were a fellow (teacher) or student there.
• College Head: Colleges at Oxford and Cambridge used a variety of terms (Warden, Provost, Principal, President) to designate the head of the college. These have all been classed as “College Head.”
• Royal Household: A job either running a department in the royal household or personally attending to a member of the royal family.
• Minister of the Crown: A position appointed by the Crown, associated with overseeing a government office or advising the crown, such as being a privy counselor or Lord Keeper.
• Unknown (female): The profession of middling-status women is listed as “Unknown (female),” not because they did not work, but because their profession was highly unlikely to be recorded. In addition to managing households, many women worked in various trades alongside their male relatives or as widows.

Profession Specific: Each individual’s stated profession, without generalization edits.

• Members of the nobility without a stated profession have their title listed as their profession, reflecting that much of their wealth came from their estates.
• Members of the gentry without a stated profession have “Gentry” listed as their profession, reflecting that much of their wealth came from their estates.
• College Member: Someone who listed a college affiliation but no with further information defining whether they were a fellow (teacher) or student there.
• College Head: Colleges at Oxford and Cambridge used a variety of terms (Warden, Provost, Principal, President) to designate the head of the college. These have all been classed as “College Head.”
• Unknown (female): The profession of middling-status women is listed as “Unknown (female),” not because they did not work, but because their profession was highly unlikely to be recorded. In addition to managing households, women worked in various trades alongside their male relatives or as widows.

Geographic Location?: If the subscriber listed their geographic location.

Full Location: The location listed for an individual subscriber.

• Members of the nobility do not have a location listed since they likely spent time at court in or near London and on their various estates.

London Location: The specific location within the city of London listed or associated with the subscriber.

City: The specific city or town, either in the British Isles or the Continent, listed with the subscriber.

County: The specific county within England, Ireland, or Wales listed for a subscriber. If subscribers only listed a city/town, the county has been supplied. County designations are historic, not current administrative counties.

• The city of London does not have a county listed.

Country: The specific country listed for a subscriber. Additional country information has not been supplied.

Cost for Subscribing: How much it cost to subscribe to one volume, if known.

• Ogilby sold illustrated plate subscriptions for his translations of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey as a set. £12 would get the subscriber both books and a dedicatory inscription for an illustration in one book, so the price for one volume is technically £6.

Short Title: The short title of the book.

Year: The year of publication.

Genre: The genre of the work. Classical translations are included in literature.

Target Language: The assumed language of the book’s readership, based upon the work’s prefatory material.

Minsheu, Cambridge University EEBO Edition: Only for Minsheu’s A Guide Into Tongues. Designates whether the entry appears in this edition of the text.

Minsheu, University of Texas, Harry Ransom Center Edition: Only for Minsheu’s A Guide Into Tongues. Designates whether the entry appears in this edition of the text and any differences between it and the text from the Cambridge University edition.

Ogilby Iliad 1669 Edition: Only for Ogilby’s Iliad. Designates whether the entry appears in this edition of the text.

Ogilby Iliad 1660 Edition: Only for Ogilby’s Iliad. Designates whether the entry appears in this edition of the text.