One of the appendices in the new edition of the Compilation 'notitia dignitatum' (Cnd), currently being prepared, will comprise a transcript of the

• list items,
• picture captions,
• drawing captions
• drawing inscriptions

that are contained in all the known and extant mutually-independent versions of it which are all copies, either direct or indirect, of the same antecedent exemplar which is termed their archetype (α) and which apparently no longer exists. This transcript, which occupies 689 A4 pages, will be placed on a CD that will be included with the printed edition.

The purpose in producing these transcripts is to enable the users of the edition to see, as precisely as the printed form allows, the corresponding contents of all the mutually-independent versions of any item, and their location on the pages from which they are derived, in order to provide the evidence on which the version comprising the edition is based. This will enable the footnotes (generally called apparatus criticus) on each page in the edition to contain only those alternative α forms which are, in the opinion of the editor, significant in the interpretation of the contents of Cnd and those actual α forms which have been replaced by emendations entered in the edition.

The following ten pictures, randomly excerpted from the pages of the complete transcript, are provided as samples. The versions represented in these extracts are identified in this list.

The transcripts reproduce, as accurately as possible, all abbreviation, punctuation and related symbols in the form in which they occur in each version. These symbols are contained in 6 TrueType (.ttf) font files, comprising a total of 1338 characters, also included on the CD.

Each transcript is followed by a series of alphabetic symbols, numbers or words, all in italics, identifying the source of each transcript and adding any other relevant descriptive information .

The location, in each version, of the item corresponding to each transcript, is identified by the following consistent sequence of alphabetic symbols and numbers: the initial symbol identifies the version, followed by a number to denote the number of the folium and a symbol (r or v) to indicate either the recto or verso side of the folium, followed by one or several of the symbols a,b,c,d to represent the columns 1,2,3,4 and, finally, a number or numbers to specify the ruled line space or spaces within the column or columns on which the item occurs. The numbering of ruled line spaces, rather than written lines, is required to identify blank ruled line spaces within a column. Within each transcript, the transition from one ruled line space to the next is indicated by the symbol | and the transition from one column to the next by the symbol ||.
For example, O-88vab1-4 indicates that this is a transcript of the contents existing in version O, on the verso side of folium 88 in the first four ruled line spaces extending across both columns 1 and 2.
Version T contains no ruled line spaces and has an inconsistent number of written lines in several of those of its columns which are completely filled with list items and which, on the basis of preceding or following items, are considered to indicate what its scribe or scribes regarded to be the maximum number of written lines in a column. Consequently, where an item in T occurs in a column other than on the first line, or as part of a series of items beginning on the first line, the location of such an item cannot be indicated precisely and, therefore, the transcript is assigned an approximate line number preceded by the symbol ?.
For example, T-70va-?27-28 indicates that this is a transcript of the contents existing in version T, on the verso side of folium 70, in column 1 in a position which is approximately the same as that occupied by written lines 27-28 in those columns which, elsewhere, are completely filled with list items.
The printed version B contains its own numeration comprising alphabetic symbols to denote gatherings and, within these, numbers to indicate their folia. This printed numeration is reproduced after each transcript but is followed, in brackets, by the equivalent number of the folium within the entire book beginning from, and including, its title page as folium 1. For example, B-a6v(14v) indicates that the folium which has the printed number a6 in B is the 14th folium within the book.

Following each transcript, the notation <red> indicates that the item corresponding to the transcript is written in red (as distinct from the black or brown in which the remaining text is written) in the identified version, while the symbol <fcs>, denoting framed caption space, indicates that the corresponding drawing caption is contained within a drawn frame, usually a rectangle but sometimes a scroll. All other annotations are self-explanatory.

The transcripts are divided into groups, each corresponding to an item in the archetype and each one numbered according to the page on which that corresponding item existed in the archetype. For example, the group of transcripts preceded by the number <81.11> indicates that these transcripts represent the 11th item in the list that occupied the 81st page in the archetype. Where a list in the archetype occupied more than one page, the location of these pages is known, but not the point of transition from one page to the next, since this varies in copies of the archetype. Thus, the lists in the Cnd whose corresponding lists occupied more than one page in the archetype are numbered according to the range of those pages: for example, <1/2.1> indicates that the corresponding item in the archetype was the 1st item in the list that occupied pages 1-2.
Like each list in the Cnd, each picture is also numbered according to the page on which the corresponding picture occurred in its archetype. Each picture caption (above the picture frame) and each drawing caption (within the picture frame) are identified with alphabetic symbols (for example, 82.a) while drawing inscriptions (existing as part, and within the outline, of a drawing) are identified by the number assigned to the drawing of which an inscription forms a part; such numbers are preceded by the symbol Δ denoting drawing (for example, 82Δ1).

Within each group of transcripts, the individual transcripts are consistently arranged in the same order (C/N-O-P-Ff/Fl-T-L-A-B-V-M-W) which corresponds to what is considered to be the chronological order, from earliest to latest, in which these versions were written between 1427 and 1551.

The symbols comprising the drawing inscriptions in (C) at 117Δ14, 117Δ15, 117Δ16, 117Δ17, 142Δ2 and (O) at 45Δ3 and (W) at 35Δ11, 60Δ2, 62Δ2, 66Δ2, 68Δ2, 70Δ2, 73Δ2, 75Δ2, 77Δ2, 79Δ2, 83Δ16, 83Δ18, 83Δ20, 83Δ22, 84Δ16, 84Δ18, 84Δ20, 84Δ22, 108Δ4, 108Δ5, 108 Δ7, 108Δ8, 108Δ9, 117Δ14, 117Δ15, 117Δ16, 117Δ17, 121Δ3, 123Δ3, 125Δ2, 127Δ2, 129Δ2, 131Δ2, 133Δ2, 134Δ2, 135Δ2, 136Δ2, 138Δ2, 142Δ2, 144Δ2, 146 Δ2, 148Δ2, 150Δ2, 152Δ2, 153Δ2, 155Δ2, which are all indirect copies of, variously, alphabetic / numerical (mostly Greek), or tachygraphic or Late Roman cursive symbols, have been traced from projected colour microfilm images of these symbols and the resultant tracings have then been converted to TrueType fonts.