CATALOGUE.

TITLE-ENTRY.

68. Make a first-word entry for all [29] anonymous works, [30] except anonymous biographies, which are to be entered under the name of the subject of the life. [31] (If the author’s name can be ascertained insert it within brackets.)

[29] Of course there are exceptions to this rule. There are works which are always known by certain names, under which they should be entered, although the title-pages of different editions may not begin with this name, or may not even contain it. The most noteworthy example is Bible, which is the best heading—in an English catalogue—for the Bible and for any of its parts in whatever language written and under whatever title published.

This is the British Museum rule. It is of a piece with putting all periodicals under the heading Periodicals and all publications of learned societies under the head Academies. It would be much more in accordance with dictionary principles to put the separate books of the Bible each under its own name as given in the revised {39} English version (Matthew, Gospel of, not Gospel of Matthew), with all necessary references.

Under the present rule, references should be made to Bible from Testament, Old Testament, New Testament, Gospels, Apocrypha, Psalms, Pentateuch, the names of the single books, and from such well-known names as Breeches Bible, Speaker’s commentary.

In cataloguing the anonymous books of the Middle Ages, “Incipit” or “Here begyns,” or “Book the first of,” and similar phrases are not to be considered as first words. Thus the history of the Seven Sages appears under the following variety of title:

And the titles of the versions are equally various:

Of course it will not do to catalogue these severally under Incipit, Hoc, Historia, Ludus, Romans, Sept, Siete, Hienach, Hystorie, Hystory, Sevin, and Siu. In this and other prose and poetical romances of the Middle Ages the heading must be taken in general from the subject of the romance; the name appearing of course in the original language, with all necessary references from other forms. In the present case all the editions would be collected under Septem sapientes,[[32]] with references from Ludus, Sept sages, Siete sabios, Hienach, and Seven, provided the library has so many editions.

Somewhat similarly collections of papers known by the name of a principal contributor or a previous owner or of the house where they were found should be entered under such name, or, if they must be entered under the name of an editor, should have a reference from such name; ex., Dudley papers, Winthrop papers, etc.

A title like “The modern Plutarch” does not mean to imply that the work is written by Plutarchus; such a book would be treated as anonymous, unless it had an editor.

[30] A catalogue of authors alone finds the entry of its anonymous books a source of incongruity. The dictionary catalogue has no such trouble. It does not attempt to enter them in the author-catalogue until the author’s name is known.

[31] For a smaller catalogue this may read “except anonymous works relating to a person, city, or other subject distinctly mentioned in the title, which are to be put under the name of the person, city, or subject.” In the catalogue of a larger library where more exactness (“red tape,” “pedantry”) is indispensable, biography should be the only exception, the place of entry under subjects and under large cities being {40} too doubtful. And in planning a manuscript catalogue, it should be remembered that a small library may grow into a large one, and that if the catalogue is made in the best way at first there will be no need of alteration.

If a book’s title-page is lost, and it is impossible to ascertain what it was from other copies or other editions, or from catalogues or bibliographies, use the half-title or the running title, stating the fact; if it has neither, manufacture a title, within brackets. Such an entry will require many references.

[32] Since this was in type I have come to the conclusion that all these should be entered under Sandabad (Lat. Syntipas), the reputed author of the original Indian romance. But the example will still serve to show the great variety in mediæval titles, and the inconvenience of following a strict first-word rule.

69. A single inscription by an unknown author needs no title-entry, but should have subject-entry under the subject of which it treats, or the name of the place where it is found, or both.

70. When the author’s name is known, it will be enough for Medium to make not an entry under the first word, but a reference from it to the author. The shelf-mark or class-mark should always be given with this reference, that the man who merely wishes to get the book need not have to look in two places for the mark. If there are several editions all the marks should be given, which is not satisfactory unless the imprints are also given, that is, unless an entry is made and not merely a reference.

The entry (or reference) for an anonymous work should be made, even if the author’s name is given in another edition.

71. An anonymous work which forms a part of a larger whole is to be entered where the whole would be, with a reference from its own title.

Ex.

New testament. See Bible.

Die Klage. See Nibelungenlied.

72. Translations of anonymous works should be entered under the same heading as the original, whether the library possesses the original or not.

Ex. Gisli’s saga. Story of Gish the outlaw, from the Icelandic, by G. W. Dasent.

So Perron’s translation, called by him “Glaive des couronnes,” would appear under Saif-al-tidjan; and the Arabian nights’ entertainments under Alif laila. Criticisms of anonymous works must be put under the heading of the work criticised.

73. Periodicals are to be treated as anonymous and entered under the first word.

Ex. Popular science monthly, Littell’s living age.

When a periodical changes its title the whole may be catalogued under the original title, with an explanatory note there and a reference from the new title to the old; or each part may be catalogued under its own title, with references, “For a continuation, see ,” “For the previous volumes, see .”

Treat almanacs and other annuals as periodicals. Do not confound periodicals with serials. The four characteristics of a periodical are: (1) that it be published at intervals usually but not necessarily regular; (2) in general that the publication be intended to continue indefinitely; (3) that it be written by a number of contributors under the supervision of one or more editors; (4) that it consist of articles on various subjects, so that a set of the work does not form an organic whole. The 2d, 3d, and 4th criteria exclude works like Trollope’s “The way we live now,” and the “Encyclopædia Britannica.” There are some exceptions to the 3d, as “Brownson’s quarterly review.” {41}

Make a reference from the name of the editor when the periodical is commonly called by his name, as in the case of Silliman’s Journal of science.

The Memoirs, Proceedings, Transactions of a society are periodicals in point of (1) occasional publication, (2) indefinite continuance, and—so far as they contain anything beyond the record of the society’s meetings—of (4) variety of subject; but they lack the 3d characteristic, variety of authorship, inasmuch as the memoirs or other papers given in addition to “proceedings” proper may be considered as the work of the society acting through its members; the society, therefore, is the author, and the Transactions, etc., need not have title-entry. There are, however, some “Journals” published by or “under the auspices of” societies which are really periodicals, and should be so treated in entry, the society being not the author but the editor. Again, there are works which occupy a borderland between the two classes, in regard to which the puzzled cataloguer should remember that it is not of much importance which way he decides, provided he is careful to make all necessary references. Examples of such doubtful cases are “Alpine journal: a record of mountain adventure and scientific observation. By members of the Alpine Club;” which contains nothing of or about the Club itself;—“Journal of the American Institute, a monthly publication devoted to the interest of agriculture, commerce, etc. Edited by a committee, members of the Institute,” and “Journal of the Society of Arts and of The Institutions in Union,” both of which are journals both in the sense of record of proceedings and of periodical publication.

Newspaper titles are troublesome. It is not uncommon for the name of the place to be included in the name on the first page (as The Boston Ægis), but to be dropped over the editorial column, or vice versa, or to be used for some years and afterwards dropped, or vice versa. The searcher can not always remember whether it is used or not. It would be well, therefore, to give under each name of a city the title of every newspaper published there which the library has.

74. Collections of extracts from a periodical should go under the name of the periodical.

Ex.

Life, Verses from.

Punch, A bowl of.

75. Make a first-word entry or reference for all works of prose fiction. (Include the author’s name in the entry.)

Ex.

Daughter of Heth; novel, by W. Black. London, 1874. 3 v. O.

The reason is that novels are known more by their titles than by their authors’ names. Whether to make an entry or a reference depends on the space at command. An entry means giving the book-marks for every edition. With a reference this may be done; but a reference without them obliges the reader to turn to the author-entry for such details, which is objectionable. It is better to give all the book-marks with the title.

If the name of the hero or heroine enters into the title the entry should be made under that; ex., David Copperfield, Life and adventures of, by C. Dickens.

76. When a title begins with an article, the heading of a first-word entry or reference is the word following the article.

Ex. Centaur, The, not fabulous, not The centaur not fabulous. The entry has commonly been made under the first word “not an article or preposition.” But it is found to work badly to except the preposition in the titles of novels and plays, and it is awkward to omit or transpose it in any case. One reason for excepting the article—that there would be an immense accumulation of titles under the unimportant words A, The, Le, Der, Uno, etc.—is not so strong in the case of prepositions; the other—that it is difficult to remember with what article a given title begins—hardly applies at all to prepositions. The preposition is full as likely to fasten itself in the {42} memory as the word that follows it. The strongest argument in favor of confining preposition-entry to fiction and the drama is that in other cases the word following the preposition will probably be a subject-word, so that one entry will do the work of two. This will occasionally be true, but not often enough, I think, to make much difference.

77. When a foreign phrase is used as an English title, refer from the article as well as from the following word.

Ex. El Fureidis should have references to Cummins both under E and F; L’arratiata both under L’ and A to Heyse.

78. When a title begins with a word expressive of the number which the work holds in a series the first-word entry or reference is to be made under the next word.

Ex. Collection of papers, 8th, not Eighth collection. Letter, 1st and 2d, to the Ministry, not First letter, etc., under F, and Second letter under S. When the numeral comes after a word like Book or Part (as frequently in Latin after Liber, Pars, Tomus, Volumen) both are to be neglected and the word following put into the nominative and used as a heading; e. g., “Pars prima epistolarum” is to be entered under Epistolæ. Similarly Evening, Morning, Daily, and Weekly should be disregarded in titles of newspapers, otherwise we should have the morning edition at one end of the catalogue and the evening at the other. So “Appendix to,” “Continuation of” “Supplement to” (but not “Reply to”), are to be disregarded when they are followed by the title of the work continued. “Reply to” and similar beginnings are to be put under Reply, etc., with a subject-entry under the author of the work replied to.

79. When the first word of a title is spelled unusually, all the editions should be entered under the word spelled in the modern or correct way, with a reference from the form adopted in the title.

Ex. The hystorie of the saints would be entered—

History.] The hystorie of the saints.

We enter under the common spelling (1) in order to get all editions of a work together, (2) because the reader can not be expected to know exactly how the word is misspelled in the title, and will generally look first under the correct spelling.

Of two spellings equally correct, choose one and refer from the other.

80. When the first word of a title is in an oblique case, use the nominative as a heading.

Ex. Put Monumentorum antiquae sculpturae quae supersunt under Monumenta.

81. If the title has various forms, refer from any that differ enough to affect the alphabetical order.

See the example in § [68].

82. Modern anonymous works whose titles are changed in different editions may be entered under the first, with a reference under the later; but the most satisfactory method is to enter in full in both places.

83. Anonymous works that change their titles in successive volumes are to be entered under the first title, with a reference from the later, unless the greater part of the work has the later title, or the whole is much better known by the later title, in which case entry should be made under that. {43}

84. Make a first-word reference to the author for all plays, and for poems of some length or importance or notoriety.

Ex.

All’s well that ends well. See Shakespeare, W.

Nothing to wear. See Butler, W. A.

Of course entries are better than references for the reader; the latter are recommended here merely for economy, which will be found to be considerable when there are many editions of a play. It is much better to distribute these like any other title-references, through the alphabet, than, as some have done, to collect the titles of novels together in one place and of plays in another. A man not unfrequently wishes to find a book whose title he has heard of without learning whether it was a novel, a play, a poem, or a book of travels.

If the catch-word of the title of a novel, poem, or play is the name of a real person who is its subject, it is optional to make a reference, as in § [86], or a biographical entry under the family name, or both.

Ex.

Paul Revere’s ride. See Longfellow, H. W.

or

Revere, Paul. LONGFELLOW, H. W. (In his Tales of a way-side inn.)

85. Make a first-word reference to the author for other works which are likely to be inquired for under the first word of the title, whether because the author-entry of the work is not obvious from the title, [33] because the title does not indicate the subject, [34] or because it is of a striking form, [35] or because the book is commonly known by its title, [36] or for any other good reason.

[33] Codex Sinaiticus; ed. Tischendorf (entered under Bible).

[34] Cuppé’s “Heaven open to all men” needs a title-reference, because for its subject it would be put under Universal salvation or Future punishment, Duration of. Hutton’s “Plays and players” is merely an account of the New York stage. Keary’s “Nations around” does not suggest any subject at all.

[35] Border and bastille.

[36] Divina commedia.

In a majority of cases, when a subject-word entry is made, no first-word reference is needed; but, if the title is striking, there should be a first-word reference, or a reference from that part of the title which is striking. Title-references should not generally be made from certain common titles, as “Sermons on various subjects,” “Essays, historical and literary,” and should be made from less common collective words, as “Century of painters,” “Century of praise,” etc. References should be liberally made to the works of such authors as Brown, Jones, Schmidt, Smith, Wilson; if one has forgotten the Christian name, it is a work of too much time to find the book under the author, and one looks at once for a subject- or a title-entry or reference. And a reference will facilitate the finding of many collections entered properly under the editor; for it is easy to forget an editor’s name, and often difficult to determine the subject-entry of a collection.

To sum up, then, make a title-reference when the author’s name is common, the title memorable, or the subject obscure.

86. Make a catch-word reference or references—

a. For all anonymous works which admit of it, if their subject does not appear distinctly from the title. To be made to the author if known, otherwise to the first word.

Ex. Scarlet gowns, True and exact account of the. See True. Here Cardinals is the subject, but the word does not occur in the title; True is the first word and is therefore taken for the heading; but Scarlet gowns is a phrase very likely to remain {44} in the memory of anyone who had seen the title, and therefore the reference is made. Books published under a comparatively unknown pseudonym should have either a first-word or a catch-word reference, unless their subject-entry can be easily inferred from the title.

b. For other works which are likely to be inquired for not under the first word but under the catch-word of the title. To be made to the author.

Ex. The fac-simile of the Laurentian ms. of Sophocles might be spoken of or referred to as “The Laurentian ms.” simply.

It is not easy to decide when to make such entries nor how many to make. “An account of the baronial mansions of England in the olden time” may be asked for as “Baronial halls” or as “English baronial halls” or perhaps as “Mansions of the olden time.” If references are made from all possible headings which might occur to an inaccurate memory, there will be no end to the catalogue.

87. Make a subject-word entry for all anonymous biographies and works of a biographical character. (See § [68], note 3.)

Ex.

Cromwell, Oliver. PERFECT politician, The; life of Cromwell. London, 1681. 8º.

— TREASON’S masterpiece; or, Conference between Oliver and a committee of Parliament. London, 1680. 8º.

For greater security this latter ought to have also a first-word reference.

88. Make a subject-word reference—

a. For all anonymous works which admit of it, to the author if known, otherwise to the first word.

When the subject-word is the same as the heading of the subject-entry this reference need not be made; but it will not do to omit an important title-entry when there are many titles under the subject-heading or they are much subdivided, so that it would be difficult to find the title-entry there. Thus an anonymous book, “France and the Pope,” would no doubt have a subject-entry under some subdivision of France, but as this in a large catalogue would be little help towards finding the book, it should also have a reference among the titles which follow the subject France. Of course if there were only a dozen titles under France one entry would be enough.

b. For other works, when the subject-word is not the same as the name of the subject selected by the cataloguer.

In this case, however, a cross-reference, which will answer for all titles, is to be preferred to a collection of subject-word references, being more economical and nearly as convenient to the inquirer. Suppose, for instance, that Insects is preferred as a subject-name to Entomology. It will be better and more sparing of space to say once for all “Entomology. See Insects,” referring a man to a part of the catalogue where he will find not only the book he seeks but many similar ones, than to make number of references like these:

Entomologie, Cours de. See Latreille, P. A.

Entomologique, Bibliographie. See Percheron, A.

Entomology, Dialogues on. See Dialogues.

Entomology, Elements of. See Dallas, W. S.; Ruschenberger, W. S. W.

Entomology, Introduction to. See Duncan, J.; Kirby, W.

which will serve his turn only for the particular book he has in mind, and serve it very little better than the general reference. {45}

89. Make title references (first-word, catch-word, or subject-word) for works which are entered under the names of societies or of governments.

Ex. Consular reports. See U. S. Consular Service.

The reason for this is that the inquirer might not think of looking for such works under those headings or might be unable to find them in the mass of titles under the larger countries, France, Great Britain, United States. But in view of the room which such references would fill, if made from all governmental titles, it seems best to state the rule for the entry of governmental and society publications very distinctly in the preface and then to require and presuppose a certain acquaintance with the plan of the catalogue on the part of those who use it, and omit all reference for ordinary official reports, making them only for works which have become part of literature, and are likely to be much inquired for: as, the “Astronomical exploring expedition,” “Connaissance des temps,” “Description de l’Égypte,” “Documents inédits,” “Philosophical transactions,” etc. Of course absolute uniformity can not be secured in this way, but absolute uniformity is not very important. Even if occasionally a reference of this kind fails to be made which might reasonably be required, those which are made will be useful. It is easy to add the reference wanted in a manuscript catalogue or in the inevitable supplement of a printed catalogue.

90. Title references must sometimes be made from subtitles and half-titles.

Because some books are known and referred to by them rather than by the full title. For the same reason the binder’s title, used on the original binding, may deserve a reference (never an entry); and also titles commonly given to books though not appearing anywhere in them, as Breeches Bible, Speaker’s commentary.

91. If a book has several title-pages use the most general, giving the others, if necessary, in a note or as contents.

This occurs especially in German books. The rule above should be followed even when the library has only one of the parts. But under the subject-heading the subtitle which corresponds to that subject may be used, the general title being given in a parenthesis after the imprint, so as to preserve the connection of the subject- and title-entries. Ex. Saxony, House of. VEHSE, E. Geschichte der Höfe des Hauses Sachsen. Hamburg, 1854. 7 v. 8º. (Vol. 28–34 of his Gesch. d. deut. Höfe.)