PLRE.Folger
Private Libraries in Renaissance England
Owners
After accessing the OWNERS screen (by clicking on the OWNERS tab) users can retrieve the names of owners whose book-lists are in the PLRE database. This list is similar to Appendix II.B in the printed volumes of PLRE, Owners of Book-lists Arranged by Owners' Names. Unlike the printed appendix, however, the OWNERS database also includes the names of owners whose book-lists are undergoing editing and have neither been published in the PLRE volumes nor posted on the PLRE.Folger site.
To access the entire list of owners, enter PLRE in the search box to the right of the Name/Keyword field. When retrieved, owners' names appear with their PLRE numbers; those undergoing editing appear as PLRE* (with an appended asterisk).
Different Name Forms
If a book-list cannot be found in the BOOKS database when searching with a particular form of an owner's name, users should enter that name in the OWNERS database; it may be a variant of or an alias for the name used by PLRE. For example, John Bowerman's name has appeared with the following variant spellings: Bomeman, Boreman, Boureman, Bourman, and Bowreman, a search for any of which in the OWNERS database will retrieve the name used by PLRE: John Bowerman. Users can then return to the BOOKS database to retrieve the book-list with the PLRE name, Bowerman.
The OWNERS database does not provide all possible variant forms of any given name, but only those that the editors have found associated with an owner in consulted sources. Therefore, if Edward Smith's name has not been found in those sources as Smyth or Smythe, those two name forms will not be found in Edward Smith's OWNERS record. Edward Smith, however, used an alias, Edward Probart, and a search for Probart in the OWNERS database will retrieve the PLRE name, Edward Smith.
Groups
The OWNERS database can also be searched for selected identifying features that do not appear in the BOOKS database, allowing for the retrieval of particular groups of owners. Currently, two such identifying features appear in the OWNERS database: woman and recusant. Accordingly, one can retrieve all owners who were women or who were recusants by entering the appropriate search term in the Name/Keyword field. By using more than one search box, users can search for those who were recusant women. Other identifying features, such as cleric and scholar, that are already part of the BOOKS database and that can be used to retrieve those groups in the BOOKS database, are not duplicated in the OWNERS database.
Common Names
When two or more owners have the same name, each of those owners' records contains at least one differentiating feature, such as birth and death dates. See, for example, two owners in the OWNERS database with the same name, John Robinson.
Searching for Forthcoming book-lists
Unpublished book-lists that are undergoing editing (PLRE*) can be retrieved as a group by entering * in the search box after scrolling to Forthcoming (*) in the box on the left. Users who seek information about a forthcoming book-list are invited to contact one of the editors.
One particular group of over eighty owners whose book-lists are found in the Norwich Public Record office, currently undergoing editing, can be retrieved by entering N (not case sensitive) in the Name/Keyword field.