Multicolor detection of high-redshift quasars. II. Five objects with z ≳ 4

We report the results of a multicolor wide-field CCD survey designed to rediscover several BRI quasars previously found in a photographic survey by Irwin et al. [ASPCS, 21, 117 (1991)], but not fully documented in the literature. Here we provide spectra, redshifts, finding charts, magnitudes, and coordinates for four such BRI quasars. Follow-up observations were obtained for BRI 2235-03, a borderline BAL object. A moderate resolution absorption line spectrum for the object shows a very dense Lyα forest and two C IV doublets at z>3. Its visible spectrum is redder than those of the other quasars presented, although it is similar in the infrared. J, H, and K magnitudes are presented for this quasar, showing it to be one of the most luminous objects known. New J, H, and K photometry is presented for PC 1247+3406, the most distant quasar known. In the course of the survey we also discovered a new quasar with z=4.042. Its spectrum, coordinates, magnitudes, and finding chart are presented here as well.