Citation, Documentation of Sources

Q. In a book I’m working on, the author tells stories that go on for several paragraphs and include quotations. When those quotations are all from one source, my author has put a single note callout at the end of the last quotation as a blanket reference for all the quotations in the story. The copy editor is suggesting that he instead put the note callout after the first quotation. I looked in CMOS but haven’t been able to find anything on this subject. What do you recommend?

A. Either method is fine, assuming that the single note at the end contains all the relevant page references. CMOS 13.67 suggests the following: “In a work containing notes, the full citation of a source may be given in a note at first mention, with subsequent citations made parenthetically in the text.” If no other source intervenes, a simple page reference will suffice (114). Otherwise, repeat the author’s name and a short title. Alternatively, CMOS 13.66 discusses the use of either the author’s name or “ibid.” in the notes: “If a second passage from the same source is quoted close to the first and there is no intervening quotation from a different source, the author’s name or ibid. (set in roman) may be used in the second parenthetical reference (e.g., ‘Hawking, 114’ or ‘ibid., 114’).” Chicago now prefers the author’s name or other short form over “ibid.”