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.)