The ledmac package, together with LaTeX, provides several important facilities for formatting critical editions of texts in a traditional manner. Major features include:
- automatic stepped line numbering, by page or by section;
- sub-lineation within the main series of line numbers;
- variant readings automatically keyed to line numbers;
- caters for both prose and verse;
- multiple series of footnotes and endnotes;
- block or columnar formatting of footnotes;
- simple tabular material may be line numbered;
- indexing keyed to page and line numbers.
ledmac allows the scholar engaged in preparing a critical edition to focus attention wholly on the task of creating the critical text and evaluating the variant readings, text-critical notes and testimonia. LaTeX and ledmac will take care of the formatting and visual correlation of all the disparate types of information.
