Similar sentiments were expressed by a writer in the Monthly Review which have been quoted by Dr. Allibone in his valuable Dictionary of English Literature. [13]
[ [13] Vol. i., p. 85.
"The compilation of an index is one of those useful labours for which the public, commonly better pleased with entertainment than with real service, are rarely so forward to express their gratitude as we think they ought to be. It has been considered a task fit only for the plodding and the dull: but with more truth it may be said that this is the judgment of the idle and the shallow. The value of anything, it has been observed, is best known by the want of it. Agreeably to this idea, we, who have often experienced great inconveniences from the want of indices, entertain the highest sense of their worth and importance. We know that in the construction of a good index, there is far more scope for the exercise of judgment and abilities, than is commonly supposed. We feel the merits of the compiler of such an index, and we are ever ready to testify our thankfulness for his exertions."
A goodly roll may be drawn up of eminent men who have not been ashamed to appear before the world as indexers. In the first rank we must place the younger Scaliger, who devoted ten months on the compilation of an elaborate index to Gruter's Thesaurus Inscriptionum. Bibliographers have been unanimous in praise of the energy exhibited by the great critic in undertaking so vast a labour. Antonio describes the index as a Herculean work, and LeClerc observes that if we think it surprising that so great a man should undertake so laborious a task we must remember that such indexes can only be made by a very able man.
Nicolas Antonio, the compiler of one of the fullest and most accurate bibliographies ever planned, was a connoisseur of indexes, and wrote a short essay on the makers of them. His Bibliotheca Hispana is not known so well as it deserves to be, but those who use it find it one of the most trustworthy of guides. The system upon which the authors' names are arranged is one that at first sight may seem to give cause for ridicule, for they appear in an alphabet of Christian names; but when we consider that the Spaniards and Portuguese stand alone among European nations in respect to the importance they pay to the Christian name, and remember, further, that authors and others are often alluded to by their Christian names alone, we shall see a valid reason for the plan. Another point that should not be forgotten is the number of Spanish authors who have belonged to the religious orders and are never known by their surnames. This arrangement, however, necessitates a full index of surnames, and Antonio has given one which was highly praised both by Baillet and Bayle, two men who were well able to form an opinion.
Juan de Pineda's Monarchia Ecclesiastica o historia Universal del Mundo (Salamanca, 1588) has a very curious and valuable table which forms the fifth volume of the whole set; and the three folio volumes of indexes in one alphabet to the Annales Ecclesiastici of Baronius form a noble work.
Samuel Jeake, senior, compiled a valuable work on "Arithmetick" in 1674, which was published by his son in 1696: Λογιστικηλογια; or, Arithmetick Surveighed and Reviewed. Professor De Morgan specially refers to this book in his Arithmetical Books, saying: "Those who know the value of a large book with a good index will pick this one up when they can." He praises it on account of the value of the information it contains and the fulness of the references to that information. The alphabetical table, directing to some special points noted in the precedent treatise, was probably the work of Samuel Jeake, junior. The author's epistle is dated from Rye, 1674, and one of the entries is curious:
"Winchelsea, when drowned 74."
S. Jeake being a resident at Rye had an interesting note to add to this:
"Among the records of this town of Rye is a Memorandum entered that the year old Winchelsea was drowned (1287) corn was 2s. the quarter."