Re the signs in the International Edition of 'The Nag Hammadi Scriptures'

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Re the signs (in the English translations) of the International Edition of 'The

Nag Hammadi Scriptures':

 

Square brackets indicate a textual lacuna [gap or hiatus] that has been

restored. When the restoration entails only " a, " " an, " " the, " or " and, " such a

minor restoration is usually not placed within square brackets. Ordinarily words

are placed either entirely inside or outside square brackets. Exceptions to this

policy are made in more fragmentary texts, in which portions of words may be

placed inside square brackets.

 

Angle brackets indicate an emendation [correction] of a scribal omission or

error.

 

{ } Braces indicate superfluous letters that presumably were added by a scribe.

Some such instances are indicated in the translation. Instances of dittography

(the inadvertent copying of a passage twice) are usually indicated in a note.

 

.... Ellipsis dots indicate unrestored lacunae--portions of Coptic (or Greek)

text missing in the manuscripts that cannot be restored with confidence. Three

dots indicate a lacuna of a Coptic line or less, that is, a short break in the

flow of thought in the text. Six dots indicate a lacuna of more than a single

Coptic line, that is, a major break in the flow of thought in the text.

Ordinarily the extent of the longer lacuna is indicated in a note accompanying

the translation. Occasionally the number of dots within a proper name indicates

the number of letters missing in the name.

 

The Nag Hammadi Scriptures (The International Edition)

Edited by Marvin Meyer; Advisory Board: Wolf-Peter Funk, Paul-Hubert Poirier,

James M. Robinson; Introduction by Elaine H. Pagels

'Reading the Nag Hammadi Scriptures', p.12

HarperCollins Publishers - New York

ISBN:978-0-06-052378-7

ISBN-10: 0-06-052378-6