The editors employed customary editorial symbols to describe the manuscript (handwritten), printed or transcribed documents. The symbols are defined in the Document Description Abbreviations.
The symbols can be used in various combinations. The key principal is to describe the author and signer of a document, with the signature as the first consideration. When a document is signed, but not written by the signer, it is “DS.” When the signer writes the document, it is an “ADS.”