Chicago Citation Rules for Prima

Chicago Citation Rules for Primary Source Documents

The Chicago style examples presented on this page have been created using the rules outlined in the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Edition. Each example is given in humanities style, with examples of a note [N] and a bibliographic entry [B].

The examples here illustrate only the most common sources and circumstances encountered in the Rollins College Archives; more extensive and detailed examples are available in the Chicago Manual of Style. Print copies of the Chicago Manual of Style are available in the ready reference section at Olin Library, under the call number Ref. Z 253.U69 2003.

For a quick guide to citing other types of sources using Chicago style, please refer to Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide.

Source Type	Example
Letter or Memo	A note citation to an unpublished letter starts with the name of the letter writer, followed by the name of the recipient. Given names may be omitted if the identities of sender and recipient are clear from the text. The word letter is usually omitted - that is, if understood - but other forms of communication (telegram, memorandum) are specified. If such other forms occur frequently in the same collection, it may be helpful to specify letters also. Take note that the bibliographic form cites the entire collection, which is appropriate when more than one item from a collection is cited in the text. N: 5. Willard Wattles to Hamilton Holt, 25 January 1940, Willard Wattles Papers, Archives and Special Collections, Olin Library, Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida. B: Wattles, Willard. Papers. Archives and Special Collections. Olin Library, Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida. To cite a published letter, memorandum, or similar communication in a published collection begins with the names of the sender and the recipient, in that order, followed by a date and sometimes the place where the communication was prepared. The word letter is unnecessary, but other forms, such as reports or memoranda, should be specified. The title of the collection is given in the usual form for a book. N: 6. Mary Wollstonecraft to George Blood, 25 August 1786, in Collected Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft, ed. Ralph M. Wardle (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1979), 111-112. B: Wollstonecraft, Mary. Mary Wollstonecraft to George Blood, 25 August 1786. In Collected Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft, ed. Ralph M. Wardle, no. 37. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1979.
Manuscript or Typescript	Full identification of most unpublished material usually requires giving the title and date of the item, series title (if applicable), name of the collection, and name of the depository. Except for placing the cited item first, there is no general agreement on the sequence of the remaining elements in the citation. Whatever sequence is adopted should be used consistently throughout the paper. N: 2. Dick Banning manuscript, Rex E. Beach Papers, Box 3, Folder 10-12, Archives and Special Collections, Olin Library, Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida. B: Beach, Rex E. Papers. Archives and Special Collections, Olin Library, Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida.
Lecture, Speech, Address, or Reading	The sponsorship, location, and date of the meeting at which a speech was given or a paper presented follow the title. This information, like that following a thesis title, is put in parentheses in a note but not in a bibliography or reference list. N: 2. James Belpedio, "Real to Reel: The Many Lives of the Cape Nome Conspiracy." (paper, Pacific Centuries Conference, John Muir Center for Regional Studies, University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA, April 25, 1997). B: Belpedio, James. "Real to Reel: The Many Lives of the Cape Nome Conspiracy." Paper, Pacific Centuries Conference, John Muir Center for Regional Studies, University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA, April 25, 1997.
Interview	An interview that has already been published or broadcast is treated like an article in a periodical or a chapter in a book. N: 5. Jack C. Lane, interview by Wenxian Zhang Rollins Oral History Archive. 16 May 2006. http:// rollins.edu/olin/archives/oral_history/Lane.htm. B: Seymour, Thaddeus. Interview with Wenxian Zhang. Rollins Oral History Archive. 18 May 2006. <http://www.rollins.edu/olin/archives/oral_history/Seymour.htm>.
Photographs, paintings, graphic art, sculpture	Titles of paintings, drawings, statues, and other works of art are italicized, whether the titles are original, added by someone, other than the artist, or translated. Titles of photographs are enclosed in quotation marks. N: 4. "Portrait of Richard Burton", photograph. Minneapolis: Sweet Studios, c1912. From Archives and Special Collections, Olin Library, Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida: Jessie Belle Rittenhouse papers. B: "Portrait of Richard Burton", photograph. Minneapolis: Sweet Studios, c1912. From Archives and Special Collections, Olin Library, Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida: Jessie Belle Rittenhouse papers.
Unpublished Dissertation or Thesis	The kind of thesis, the academic institution, and the date follow the title. Like the publication data of a book, these are enclosed in parentheses in a note but not in a bibliography or reference list. The word unpublished is unnecessary. N: 6. Lisa Stronski, "Exploding the canon and illuminating the spitfires : the representation of women in Grimms' fairy tales" (honors thesis, Rollins College, 2002), 56-75. B: Mould, Kimberly Thomlinson. "A Portrait in Black and White : The Ideal Woman's Club and the Woman's Club of Winter Park" master's thesis, Rollins College Holt School, 2000.