A transcription of a tombstone should only include what is on the tombstone. That’s what makes it a transcription. Any parenthetical information preferably needs to be entirely separate from the transcription itself and clearly indicated as material that is not on the stone. Brackets should be used to indicate there’s a portion you cannot read or a part of the transcription at which you are guessing.
Parenthetical information may be helpful to other researchers, but only indicate something is on the stone if it actually is on the stone.
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3 Responses
“Incudes”?????
It has been fixed. Thanks for catching that.
Two separate stones, side by side, of the same distinctive material. One reads: Eve 1896-1942 and the other Adam Jones 1895-1931. I know these are husband and wife, and from their matching appearance, they were evidently purchased and carved close in time. To transcribe Eve’s stone and not parenthetically state that her surname was Jones seems irresponsible. I believe they were meant to be read together.