The Parsed Corpus of Early English Correspondence

The associated information file (AIF)

In addition to being included in the corpus files (in the form of metadata), information for each letter is provided in the 'associated information file' (AIF). This is an excel file, aif.xls, located in the corpus directory. The AIF also includes 'additional personal information' (API) not included in the corpus files.

The AIF contains the following fields.

Field Contents Example
A Letter reference ARUNDEL_O15
B Author name THOMAS_HOWARD_III
C Author API 2ND_EARL_OF_ARUNDEL_AND_SURREY/POLITICIAN(DNB)
D Author gender MALE
E Author date of birth 1585
F Relationship to recipient SON
G Recipient name ANNE_HOWARD[N.DACRE]
H Recipient API COUNTESS_OF_ARUNDEL
I Recipient gender FEMALE
J Recipient date of birth 1553?
K Relationship to author MOTHER

Additional personal information (API)

 The API includes titles (e.g. COUNTESS_OF_ARUNDEL, 5TH_EARL_OF_NORTHUMBERLAND, SIR, BARON, BISHOP, etc.), as well as any other available information about the person including professional roles and indications of status (e.g., LORD_KEEPER, LOCAL_POLITICIAN, ROYAL_MINISTER, LAWYER, GENTLEMAN, YEOMAN, SERVANT, RENT_COLLECTOR, etc.). The title, if any, is always given first, followed by any other information separated by a slash. (e.g., 1ST_LORD_BURGHLEY/ROYAL_MINISTER(DNB) Information followed by (DNB) indicates that the API is taken from the on-line Dictionary of National Biography. Information not from the DNB was either provided by the CEEC team or sourced from the editions, or the letters themselves.

The API is provided as an aid to users, but it is known to be incomplete, and although we have made considerable efforts to standardize it, inconsistencies remain. Users interested in roles or status should take the API as a starting point for their own further research.