The works most useful to the cataloguer in revealing real names are Halkett and Laing’s Dictionary of the anonymous and pseudonymous literature of Great Britain, Cushing’s Initials and pseudonyms, and Les supercheries littéraires dévoilées, par Quérard. A list of pseudonyms, mostly modern instances, with the real names, will be found in [Appendix C], by those who may require it.
38.—The next illustration is selected because it is distinctly anonymous, that is the author is not shown in any form in the book, either by a pseudonym or initialism, and the ordinary sources of information do not enable the authorship to be discovered.
Times and days: being essays in romance and history, pp. viii, 215. sm. 8o. 1889
Upon such books, if they are worth it, the industry of the cataloguer may very well be exercised, as librarians and the public feel that they are fully justified in finding out who the author is if they can. If the book is of any importance the name of the author is sure to be revealed for general information sooner or later, and the possibility of this adds zest to the search for the name at the moment it is needed by the cataloguer. Besides the works of reference mentioned already, Watt’s Bibliotheca Britannica should be consulted (for the older books), Barbier’s Dictionnaire des ouvrages anonymes, and any special bibliographies or catalogues within reach, not forgetting the great British Museum Catalogue of Printed Books. Local catalogues often prove valuable in this work, as the identity of an author may be well-known locally but not further. It is as well to point out that if a work is merely “ascribed,” or “said to be” by a particular person it is better to regard the book as altogether anonymous. To name a case in point, Halkett and Laing ascribe the authorship of the, at one time, celebrated “red pamphlets” on the Mutiny of the Bengal Army to a Major Bunbury, whereas the author is now known to have been the late Colonel G. B. Malleson.
In the event of the search after the author’s name proving futile, the rule is that the principal entry be given under the first word of the title not an article, in the same way as the entries follow in the work of Halkett and Laing. Should the library be a small one of a general character it would be somewhat pedantic to adhere rigidly to this rule, more especially if the subject of the book is clearly stated upon its title-page. For example, books like, A short history of Poland, and The rambler’s guide to Harrogate, would be amply and satisfactorily dealt with if entries were alone given under “Poland” and “Harrogate” respectively, instead of under “Short” and “Rambler’s,” as required by the rule.
39.—When books are said to be “by the author of —” and it cannot be ascertained who the author is, then they are treated as altogether anonymous and dealt with accordingly, as
N. or M., by the author of “Honor bright.”
No entry would be made under “Honor bright” except, of course, for that book itself if it happened to be in the library.