For language students FL offers:
For those of us just starting to deal with manuscripts and variants, we need an additional cheat sheet that give the sigla and the standard typographical conventions. The alternative, making the sigla show info on mouse over, is a far more expensive endeavor. I'd trust Rick B. to get this one out quite quickly.
Orthodox Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."
MJ, the introductions for the apparatuses for UBS5 and NA28 do much of what I think you're asking for here. Swete's Introduction to the OT does it for the LXX. For the Hebrew, the BHQ intro is probably the place to look.
Much of this stuff is edition specific, so having a single clearinghouse of information may not be feasible.
Rick BrannanData Wrangler, FaithlifeMy books in print
Thanks, Rick. I was looking at it from the perspective of the transcriptions, annotations of the transcripts, and apparatus that are in the Classic Commentary packages ... where they don't do a good job of explaining their conventions ... they just say they are using the common practice. For the major critical editions, I agree it is less necessary - better mouse over functions and better documentation.
As far as transcriptions, the Leiden Conventions are typically used today. Once you go a bit before those happened, you understand why they were needed. I wish I had better news.
Some things *seem* common (use of brackets for supplied material, under-dots for unclear letters) but sometimes it's just difficult to figure out what people mean.
Thank you Rick ... this at least gives me a starting point.