Prescott, Wm. H. History of the reign of the Emperor Charles V., by Wm. Robertson, extended by W. H. P.
Tilden, Wm. A. Watts’ Manual of chemistry. v. 2, Organic chemistry. 2nd ed. 1886
these entries being in addition to those under “Robertson” and “Watts.”
74.—It occasionally occurs that a prefatory essay or biographical or critical introduction to a book is of so much value as to be worth a separate entry, as
Courthorpe, Wm. J. Life of Alexander Pope. (Pope’s Works, v. 5.) 1889
The careful cataloguer will rarely overlook these important points, though it too often happens that sets of books are lumped into a catalogue without the least attention to details of this kind, leaving it incomplete and so making the library less useful.
CHAPTER VIII.
SUBJECT, TITLE, AND SERIES ENTRIES.
75.—The form of author-entry, or its equivalent, having been settled, the subject-entry now commands attention. The importance of the author-entry is recognised, but it is well known to librarians that, leaving fiction out of the question, most inquiries are made in libraries for books upon a particular subject, or for a special class of literature, rather than for the works of a particular writer, the people who know many authors not being so numerous as might be supposed. Therefore it is essential in all cataloguing work that the utmost attention be paid to the subjects. Every volume dealt with should be thoroughly examined for the purpose of ascertaining generally the nature of its contents, and definitely the subject or subjects of which it treats. This course should be pursued in every case, even if the subject is so clearly defined upon the title-page that to go beyond the statement there made would seem to be a sheer waste of time, otherwise the “pitfalls” that lie in the cataloguer’s way cannot be avoided. Besides, there may be some particularly valuable feature of the book hidden away in an appendix, or even a separate book bound up in the same cover, which the first title-page will not reveal.