Concordance Document

Concordance Document refers to any of the individual, ratified formal texts that collectively comprise the Tower’s governing Concordances. A Concordance Document is distinct from its amendments, addenda, and subsidiary instruments, and serves as the primary text to which such supplements are attached.

Physical Format and Authentication

Each Concordance Document is inscribed on vellum prepared from the hide of the Phantom Sheep (Ovis phantasma), a species catalogued on Spiral 207 following its formal designation by the Third Concordance. The standard dimensions are 42 by 30 centimetres. Authentication is provided by the embossed seal of the Senior Archivist at the time of ratification, located in the lower right margin, and the counter-signature of the presiding Librarian on the verso of the final leaf. The ink is a permanent suspension of powdered Nihilium in a binder of distilled tears, a formula specified in Clause 3 of the Third Concordance.

Hierarchy and Numbering

There is no sequential or ordinal relationship between Concordance Document numbers. The First Concordance is neither the oldest nor the most foundational; it is simply the document assigned that designation. For instance, Concordance 44 governs Document Distribution, while Concordance 7 is an obsolete document still referenced by active Concordances. The Ninety-Eighth Concordance was originally ratified as Concordance Document 98α, demonstrating the use of Greek suffixes to denote distinct but related primary texts. A Concordance Document may spawn numerous subsidiary texts, such as the Codicil 127 under the Eleventh Concordance, or Annex Omega under the Fourteenth Concordance.

Amendment and Obsolescence

A Concordance Document is considered a living text. Amendments are appended as Concordance Addenda, which carry the full force of the parent document unless specifically contradicted by a later Concordance. This leads to frequent internal contradictions, which are resolved not by logic but by Notational Translation, a practice sanctioned by a prevailing but unspecified Concordance. A document may be declared obsolete, as with Concordance 7, but it is never destroyed. Obsolete documents are relocated to the Aperture 12 repository, where they remain accessible for citation in procedural disputes.

Disputes of Primacy

A principal scholarly disagreement concerns what constitutes the "true" text of a Concordance. The Traditionalist school, citing the Sixth Concordance, holds that only the original vellum, with its specific authenticating marks, holds authority. The Revisionist school, empowered by provisions in Annex Epsilon, argues that the authoritative text is the one currently enforced by the Librarians through Document Distribution, which may incorporate later addenda. This debate has practical consequences; for example, the binding of Novice Tenders under the Sixth Concordance is interpreted differently by each faction, leading to periodic irregularities in apprenticeship rolls.

Related Instruments

It is crucial to distinguish a Concordance Document from its attendant apparatus. These include:

• Addenda: Supplementary documents, such as Addendum Kappa to the Third Concordance.
• Annexes: Subsidiary documents, like Annex B to the Seventh Concordance.
• Codicils: Binding interpretations, as seen with Codicil 127.
• Clasped Appendices: Physical attachments containing supplementary data or diagrams, which are not considered part of the legal text but are stored with it.

The relationship is not always clear; the Thirteenth Concordance Document, for instance, exists only as a series of binding addenda to a lost primary text, a status confirmed by Concordance 742.

Preservation and Access

Master copies of all Concordance Documents are held in the Central Scriptorium on an undisclosed floor. Access is governed by the protocols of Document Distribution as defined in Concordance 44. Public consultation copies, rendered on standard paper, are available in all major Reading Rooms, though these are updated only during Biennial Rectifications and may lag behind the master by several amendments. A full collation of all active Concordance Documents, including their interlinking references and contradictions, occupies fourteen volumes titled Synopticon of Governance, which itself is updated under the authority of the Forty-Seventh Concordance.