The Book-Lover's Library.
Edited by
Henry B. Wheatley, F.S.A.
By the Same Author.
Tastefully printed and bound in cloth, 4s. 6d.; in Roxburgh, 7s. 6d. Large Paper, 21s.
HOW TO FORM A LIBRARY.
"An admirable guide to the best bibliographies and books of reference.... It is altogether a volume to be desired."—Globe.
"Everything about this book is satisfactory—paper, type, margin, size—above all, the contents."—St. James's Gazette.
HOW TO CATALOGUE A LIBRARY.
"Every collector of books knows how many and difficult are the problems that present themselves in connection with cataloguing. Mr. Wheatley deals with all patiently, wisely, and exhaustively."—British Weekly.
"Mr. Wheatley's volume is unique. It is written with so much care and such profound knowledge of the subject that there can be no doubt that it will satisfactorily meet all requirements."—Bristol Mercury.
ELLIOT STOCK,
62, Paternoster Row, London.
HOW TO MAKE
AN INDEX
BY
HENRY B. WHEATLEY, F.S.A.
AUTHOR OF "HOW TO CATALOGUE A LIBRARY"
"HOW TO FORM A LIBRARY," ETC., ETC.
"M. Bochart ... me prioit surtout d'y faire un Index, etant, disoit-il, l'âme des gros livres."—Menagiana.
LONDON
ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW
1902
PREFACE.
N 1878 I wrote for the Index Society, as its first publication, a pamphlet entitled "What is an Index?" The present little book is compiled on somewhat similar lines; but, as its title suggests, it is drawn up with a more practical object. The first four chapters are "Historical," and the other four are "Practical"; but the historical portion is intended to lead up to the practical portion by showing what to imitate and what to avoid.
There has been of late years a considerable change in public opinion with respect to the difficulties attending the making of both indexes and catalogues. It was once a common opinion that anyone without preparatory knowledge or experience could make an index. That that opinion is not true is amply proved, I hope, in the chapter on the "Bad Indexer."
I have attempted to describe the best way of setting to work on an index. To do this with any hope of success it is necessary to give details that may to some seem puerile, but I have ventured on particulars for which I hope I may not be condemned.
I must also ask the forbearance of my readers for the constant use of the personal pronoun. If I could have left it out, I would gladly have done so; but to a great extent this book relates to the experiences of an old indexer. They must be taken for what they are worth, and I hope forgiveness will be extended to me for the form in which these experiences are related.
H. B. W.
CONTENTS.
HISTORICAL.
PAGE
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION
The So-called Evils of Index Learning—Glanville and Swift—Thomas Fuller's Defence of the Index—Advantages of saving the Brain by knowing where to find what is wanted—Dr. Johnson's Division of Necessary Knowledge—Gradual Introduction of the Word "Index"—Synonyms—Final Triumph of Index—Interesting Indexes—Prynne's Index to his Histrio-Mastix—Index to Richardson's Novels—David Hume an Indexer—Sir James Paget enjoyed making Indexes—Amusing Blunder in Musical Index [1]
CHAPTER II.
AMUSING AND SATIRICAL INDEXES.
Leigh Hunt's Good Word for Indexes—Indexes to Tatler and Spectator, and The Athenian Oracle—Table of Contents to Shenstone's Schoolmistress—Index to Biglow Papers—Dr. William King and his Satirical Indexes—"Boyle upon Bentley"—The Royal Society and Sir Hans Sloane ridiculed—Speaker Bromley's Travels—Reprint with King's Index [25]
CHAPTER III.
THE BAD INDEXER.
Some of the Worst Indexes in Periodicals—Jewel's Apology—Classified in place of completely Alphabetical Indexes—Mr. Poole's Opinion of Indexes to Periodicals—Miss Hetherington's Examples of Bad Indexes—Want of Complete Alphabetization—Confusion of u and n, and Blunders caused by it—Classification within the Alphabet—Variety of Alphabets—Want of Cross References—Useless Cross References—Amusing Mistranslations—Incorrect Filling-up of Contractions—Bad Index to Walpole's Letters—Incorrect Use of the Line for Repetition of Heading—Index to Pepys's Diary—Evil of an Indexless Book—Complaints [53]
CHAPTER IV.
THE GOOD INDEXER.
Difficulties of being Exact—Value of a Good Index—Scaliger, Nicolas Antonio, Pineda, Samuel Jeake—Carlyle on Indexless Books—Macaulay's Opinion of the Aim of an Index—Official Indexes—Amount paid by Parliament for Indexes—Good Legal Indexes—Indexes to Jeremy Bentham's Works, and to Ruskin's Fors Clavigera—Dr. Birkbeck Hill's Index to Boswell's Life of Johnson—Boswell's Original Index—Issue of Revised Index to Ranke's History of England—The Indexer born and made—Characteristics of a Good Indexer [85]
PRACTICAL.
CHAPTER V.
DIFFERENT CLASSES OF INDEXES.
Easiest Kinds of Indexes to make—Concordances—Scientific Books—Incompleteness of some Indexes—Indexes to Catalogues of Libraries—Proposed Subject Index to the Catalogue of the British Museum—Controversy in The Times—Mr. Fortescue's Opinion—Dictionary Catalogue [118]
CHAPTER VI.
GENERAL RULES FOR ALPHABETICAL INDEXES.
Rules, with Explanations and Illustrations: (1) One Index to each Book; (2) One Alphabet; (3) Order of the English Alphabet; (4) Arrangement of Headings; (5) Arrangement of Foreign Proper Names; (6) Proper Names with Prefixes; (7) Titles of Peers rather than their Family Names; (8) Compound Names; (9) Adjective v. Substantive as a Catchword; (10) Shortness of Entries; (11) Repetition of Short Entries; (12) Abstracts of the Contents of Articles in Periodicals; (13) Authorities to be Indexed; (14) Division of the Page for Reference; (15) Use of Numerals for Series of Volumes; (16) Certain Entries to be printed in Capitals; (17) Type for Headings—Arrangement of Oriental Names—Sir George Birdwood's Memorandum [132]
CHAPTER VII.
HOW TO SET ABOUT AN INDEX.
Hints as to the Making of an Index—Two Kinds of Index—Arrangement of Growing Indexes—Use of Cards, Paper Slips, or Foolscap—Indexer's Knowledge of the Book to be Indexed—Selection of the best Catchword—Use of Numerals—Index for Different Editions of Same Book—Cutting up and arranging Slips—Sorting into Alphabet—Pasting down the Slips—Paste to Use—Calculations of the Relative Lengths of the Letters of the Alphabet—Preparation of "Copy" for the Printer—Correction of the Press [172]
CHAPTER VIII.
GENERAL OR UNIVERSAL INDEX.
Early Proposals for an Index Society—Foundation of a Society—Indexes of History and Biography—General Index: What it should be [206]
Index [225]
HOW TO MAKE AN INDEX.
CHAPTER I.
Introduction.
"I for my part venerate the inventor of Indexes; and I know not to whom to yield the preference, either to Hippocrates, who was the great anatomiser of the human body, or to that unknown labourer in literature who first laid open the nerves and arteries of a book."
—Isaac Disraeli, Literary Miscellanies.
T is generally agreed that that only is true knowledge which consists of information assimilated by our own minds. Mere disjointed facts kept in our memories have no right to be described as knowledge. It is this understanding that has made many writers jeer at so-called index-learning. Thus, in the seventeenth century, Joseph Glanville, writing in his Vanity of Dogmatizing, says: "Methinks 'tis a pitiful piece of knowledge that can be learnt from an index, and a poor ambition to be rich in the inventory of another's treasure." Dr. Watts alluded to those whose "learning reaches no farther than the tables of contents"; but then he added a sentence which quite takes the sting from what he had said before, and shows how absolutely needful an index is. He says: "If a book has no index or table of contents, 'tis very useful to make one as you are reading it."
Swift had his say on index-learning, too. In the Tale of a Tub (Section VII.) he wrote: "The most accomplisht way of using books at present is twofold: Either serve them as some men do Lords, learn their titles exactly, and then brag of their acquaintance. Or secondly, which indeed is the choicer, the profounder and politer method, to get a thorough insight into the Index, by which the whole book is governed and turned, like fishes by the tail. For to enter the palace of Learning at the great gate, requires an expense of time and forms; therefore men of much haste and little ceremony are content to get in by the back-door. For, the Arts are all in a flying march, and therefore more easily subdued by attacking them in the rear.... Thus men catch Knowledge by throwing their wit on the posteriors of a book, as boys do sparrows with flinging salt upon their tails. Thus human life is best understood by the wise man's Rule of regarding the end. Thus are the Sciences found like Hercules' oxen, by tracing them backwards. Thus are old Sciences unravelled like old stockings, by beginning at the foot."
Thomas Fuller, with his usual common-sense, wisely argues that the diligent man should not be deprived of a tool because the idler may misuse it. He writes: "An Index is a necessary implement and no impediment of a book except in the same sense wherein the carriages [i.e. things carried] of an army are termed impedimenta. Without this a large author is but a labyrinth without a clue to direct the reader therein. I confess there is a lazy kind of learning which is only indical, when scholars (like adders which only bite the horses' heels) nibble but at the tables, which are calces librorum, neglecting the body of the book. But though the idle deserve no crutches (let not a staff be used by them but on them), pity it is the weary should be denied the benefit thereof, and industrious scholars prohibited the accommodation of an index, most used by those who most pretend to contemn it."
The same objection to "indical" learning is urged to-day, but it is really a futile one. No man can know everything; he may possess much true knowledge, but there is a mass of matter that the learned man knows he can never master completely. He does not care to burden his mind with what might be to him useless lumber. In this case his object is only to know where he can find the information when he wants it. Indexes are of the greatest help to these men, and for their purposes the indexes ought to be well made. But it is needless to labour this point, for has not Johnson, in his clear and virile language, said the last word on the matter?—"Knowledge is of two kinds; we know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it. When we inquire into any subject, the first thing we have to do is to know what books have treated of it. This leads us to look at catalogues and the backs of books."
Before going further, it would be well for author and reader to come to an agreement as to what an index really is. An index may, in certain circumstances, be arranged in the order of the book, like a table of contents, or it may be classified or chronological; but the index to a book such as we all think of when we speak of an index should be alphabetical. The other arrangements must be exceptional, because the books indexed are exceptional.
It is strange, however, to find how long the world was in coming to this very natural conclusion. The first attempt at indexing a book was in the form of an abstract of contents in the order of the book itself. Seneca, in sending certain volumes to his friend Lucilius, accompanied them with notes of particular passages, so that he "who only aimed at the useful might be spared the trouble of examining them entire." Cicero used the word "index" to express the table of contents of a book, and he asked his friend Atticus to send him two library clerks to repair his books. He added that he wished them to bring with them some parchment to make indexes upon.
Many old manuscripts have useful tables of contents, and in Dan Michel's Ayenbite of Inwyt (1340) there is a very full table with the heading: "Thise byeth the capiteles of the boc volȝinde."
It was only a step to arrange this table of contents in the order of the alphabet, and thus form a true index; but it took a long time to take this step. Alphabetical indexes of names are to be found in some old manuscript books, but it may be said that the general use of the alphabetical arrangement is one of those labour-saving expedients which came into use with the invention of printing.
Erasmus supplied alphabetical indexes to many of his books; but even in his time arrangement in alphabetical order was by no means considered indispensable in an index, and the practice came into general use very slowly.
The word "index" had a hard fight with such synonyms as "calendar," "catalogue," "inventory," "register," "summary," "syllabus." In time it beat all its companions in the race, although it had the longest struggle with the word "table." [1]
[ [1] All these words are fairly common; but there is another which was used only occasionally in the sixteenth century. This is "pye," supposed to be derived from the Greek πίναξ, among the meanings of which, as given in Liddell and Scott's Lexicon, is, "A register, or list." The late Sir T. Duffus Hardy, in some observations on the derivation of the word "Pye-Book," remarks that the earliest use he had noted of pye in this sense is dated 1547: "A Pye of all the names of such Balives as been to accompte pro anno regni regis Edwardi Sexti primo."—Appendix to the "35th Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records," p. 195.
Cicero used the word "index," and explained it by the word "syllabus." Index was not generally acknowledged as an English word until late in the seventeenth century.
North's racy translation of Plutarch's Lives, the book so diligently used by Shakespeare in the production of his Roman histories, contains an alphabetical index at the end, but it is called a table. On the title-page of Baret's Alvearie (1573), one of the early English dictionaries, mention is made of "two Tables in the ende of this booke"; but the tables themselves, which were compiled by Abraham Fleming, being lists of the Latin and French words, are headed "Index." Between these two tables, in the edition of 1580, is "an Abecedarie, Index or Table" of Proverbs. The word "index" is not included in the body of the dictionary, where, however, "Table" and "Regester" are inserted. "Table" is defined as "a booke or regester for memorie of thinges," and "regester" as "a reckeninge booke wherein thinges dayly done be written." By this it is clear that Baret did not consider index to be an English word.
At the end of Johnson's edition of Gerarde's Herbal (1636) is an "Index Latinus," followed by a "Table of English names," although a few years previously Minsheu had given "index" a sort of half-hearted welcome into his dictionary. Under that word in the Guide into Tongues (1617) is the entry, "vide Table in Booke, in litera T.," where we read, "a Table in a booke or Index." Even when acknowledged as an English word, it was frequently differentiated from the analytical table: for instance, Dugdale's Warwickshire contains an "Index of Towns and Places," and a "Table of men's names and matters of most note"; and Scobell's Acts and Ordinances of Parliament (1640-1656), published 1658, has "An Alphabetical Table of the most material contents of the whole book," preceded by "An Index of the general titles comprized in the ensuing Table." There are a few exceptions to the rule here set forth: for instance, Plinie's Natural Historie of the World, translated by Philemon Holland (1601), has at the beginning, "The Inventorie or Index containing the contents of 37 bookes," and at the end, "An Index pointing to the principal matters." In Speed's History of Great Britaine (1611) there is an "Index or Alphabetical Table containing the principal matters in this history."
The introduction of the word "index" into English from the Latin word in the nominative shows that it dates from a comparatively recent period, and came into the language through literature and not through speech. In earlier times it was the custom to derive our words from the Latin accusative. The Italian word indice was from the accusative, and this word was used by Ben Jonson when he wrote, "too much talking is ever the indice of a fool" (Discoveries, ed. 1640, p. 93). The French word indice has a different meaning from the Italian indice, and according to Littré is not derived from index, but from indicium. It is possible that Jonson's "indice" is the French, and not the Italian, word.
Drayton uses "index" as an indicator:
"Lest when my lisping guiltie tongue should hault,
My lookes might prove the index to my fault."
—Rosamond's Epistle, lines 103-104.
Shakespeare uses the word as a table of contents at the beginning of a book rather than as an alphabetical list at the end: for instance, Nestor says:
"Our imputation shall be oddly poised
In this wild action: for the success,
Although particular, shall give a scantling
Of good or bad unto the general;
And in such indexes, although small pricks
To their subsequent volumes, there is seen
The baby figure of the giant mass
Of things to come at large."
—Troilus and Cressida, I. 3.
Buckingham threatens:
"I'll sort occasion,
As index to the story we late talk'd of,
To part the queen's proud kindred from the king."
—Richard III., II. 2.
And Iago refers to "an index and obscure prologue to the history of lust and foul thoughts" (Othello, II. 1). It may be remarked in the quotation from Troilus and Cressida that Shakespeare uses the proper plural—"indexes"—instead of "indices," which even now some writers insist on using. No word can be considered as thoroughly naturalised that is allowed to take the plural form of the language from which it is obtained. The same remark applies to the word "appendix," the plural of which some write as "appendices" instead of "appendixes." In the case of "indices," this word is correctly appropriated to another use.
Indexes need not necessarily be dry; and some of the old ones are full of quaint touches which make them by no means the least interesting portion of the books they adorn. John Florio's translation of Montaigne's Essays contains "An Index or Table directing to many of the principal matters and personages mentioned in this Booke," which is full of curious entries and odd cross references. The entries are not in perfect alphabetical order. A few of the headings will give a good idea of the whole:
"Action better than speach."
"Action to some is rest."
"Beasts are Physitians, Logitians, Musitians, Artists, Students, Politikes, Docible, Capable of Military Order, of Affections, of Justice, of Friendship, of Husbandry, of thankefulnesse and of compassion," etc.
"Bookes and Bookishnesse."
"Bookes not so profitable as Conference—as deare as children."
"Bruit creatures have imagination."
"Cloysters not without cares."
"Good fortune not to be despised altogether."
"Societie of bookes."
Here are some of the cross references:
"Alteration vide Inconstancy."
"Amitie vide Friendship."
"Ant vide Emmets."
"Apprehension vide Imagination."
"Balladmakers vide Rymers."
"Boasting vide Vaunting."
"Chance vide Fortune."
"Common People vide the Vulgar."
"Disparity vide Equality."
"Emperickes vide Physitians."
An instance of how loosely the word "index" has been used will be found in Robert Boyle's Some Considerations touching the Usefulnesse of Experimental Natural Philosophy (Oxford, 1663). This book is divided into two parts, and at the end of each part is "The Index." This so-called index is arranged in order of the pages, and is really only a full table of contents.
Indexes did not become at all common till the sixteenth century, and Mr. Cornelius Walford asked in Notes and Queries what was the earliest index. Mr. Edward Solly answered: "Polydore Vergil in Anglicæ Historiæ (1556), has what may fairly be called a good index—thirty-seven pages. This may be taken as a starting-point as to date; and we may ask for earlier examples" (6th S. xi. 155). Another contributor referred to an earlier edition of Polydore Vergil (1546), and still another one cited Lyndewood's Provinciale (1525), which has several indexes.
One old index may be singled out as having caused its author serious misfortune. William Prynne concocted a most wonderful attack upon the "stage" under the title of Histrio-Mastix (1633), which is absolutely unreadable by reason of the vast mass of authorities gathered from every century and every nation, to prove the wickedness of play-acting. Carlyle refers to the Histrio-Mastix as "a book still extant, but never more to be read by mortal."
If Prynne had sent his child out into the world without an index, he might have escaped from persecution, as no one would have found out the enormities which were supposed to lurk within the pages of the book. But he was unwise enough to add a most elaborate index, in which all the attacks upon a calling that received the sanction of the Court were arranged in a convenient form for reference. Attorney-General Noy found that the author himself had forged the weapons which he (the prosecutor) could use in the attack. This is proved by a passage in Noy's speech at Prynne's trial, where he points out that the accused "says Christ was a Puritan, in his Index." Noy calls it an index, but Prynne himself describes it as "A Table (with some brief additions) of the chiefest passages in this treatise." [2]
[ [2] There is a note to the table which shows that the book grew in size during the printing—"p. signifying the page, f. the folioes from pag. 513 to 545 (which exceeded the Printer's computation), m. the marginall notes: if you finde f. before any pages from 545 to 568, then looke the folioes which are overcast; if p. then the page following."
The entries in the index are so curious and one-sided in their accusations that it is worth while to quote some of them rather fully:
"Actors of popular or private enterludes for gaine or pleasure, infamous, unlawfull and that as well in Princes, Noblemen, Gentlemen, Schollers, Divines or Common Actors."
"Æschylus, one of the first inventors of Tragedies—his strange and sudden death."
"Christ wept oft, but never laughed—a puritan—dishonoured and offended with Stage playes."
"Crossing of the face when men go to plays shuts in the Devil."
"Devils, inventors and fomentors of stage plays and dancing. Have stage plays in hell every Lord's day night."
"Heaven—no stage plays there."
"Herod Agrippa smitten in theater by an angel and so died."
"Herod the great, the first erecter of a theater among the Jews who thereupon conspire his death."
"King James his statute against prophaning scripture and God's name in Playes—his Statutes make Players rogues and Playes unlawfull pastimes."
"Kings—infamous for them to act or frequent Playes or favour Players."
"Plagues occasioned by stage plays. All the Roman actors consumed by a plague."
"Play-bookes see Bookes."
"Players infamous ...
—— many of them Papists and most desperate wicked wretches."
"Play haunters the worst and lewdest persons for the most part...."
"Play haunting unlawfull...."
"Play-houses stiled by the Fathers and others, the Devil's temples, Chappels and synagogues...."
"Play-poets examples of God's judgements on the chiefest of them...."
"Puritans, condemners of Stage-playes and other corruptions stiled so—The very best and holiest Christians called so....—Christ, his prophets, apostles, the Fathers and Primitive christians Puritans as men now judged—hated and condemned onely for their grace yea holinesse of life—Accused of hypocrisie and sedition, and why."
"Puritan, an honourable nickname of Christianity and grace."
"Theaters overturned by tempests."
It was the strong terms in which women actors are denounced that gave such offence at Court, where the Queen and her ladies were specially attracted to the stage. Prynne's book was published six weeks before Henrietta Maria acted in a pastoral at Somerset House, so that the following passage could not have been intended to allude to the Queen: [3]
[ [3] See Cobbett's State Trials, vol. 3, coll. 561-586.
"Women actors notorious whores ... and dare then any Christian women be so more than whorishly impudent as to act, to speake publikely on a stage perchance in man's apparell and cut haire here proved sinfull and abominable in the presence of sundry men and women?... O let such presidents of impudency, of impiety be never heard of or suffered among Christians."
There are some interesting letters in Ellis's Original Letters (2nd Series, vol. 3) which illustrate the effect on the Court of these violent expressions of opinion. Jo. Pory wrote to Sir Thomas Puckering on September 20th, 1632: "That which the Queen's Majesty, some of her ladies and all her maides of honour are now practicing upon is a Pastorall penned by Mr. Walter Montague, wherein her Majesty is pleased to acte a parte, as well for her recreation as for the exercise of her Englishe."
George Gresley wrote to the same Puckering on the following 31st of January: "Mr. Prinne an Utter Barrister of Lincoln's Inne is brought into the High Commission Court and Star Chamber, for publishing a Booke (a little before the Queene's acting of her play) of the unlawfullness of Plaies wherein in the Table of his Booke and his brief additions thereunto he hath these words [the extracts given above are here printed], which wordes it is thought by some will cost him his eares, or heavily punnisht and deepely fined."
Those who thought thus were amply justified in their opinion. Mr. Hill Burton observes that it was a very odd compliment to Queen Henrietta Maria to presume that these words refer to her, and he adds that the supposition reminds him of Victor Hugo's sarcasm respecting Napoleon III., that when the Parisian police overheard any one use the terms "ruffian" and "scoundrel," they said, "You must be speaking of the Emperor!"
Prynne is so full in his particulars that he might have given us much information respecting the stage in his own day, which we should have welcomed; but, instead, he is ever more ready to draw his examples from Greek and Latin authorities.
In the eighteenth century a practice arose of drawing up indexes of sentiments and opinions as distinguished from facts. Such indexes required a special skill in the indexer, who was usually the original author. There is a curious poetical index to the Iliad in Pope's Homer, referring to all the places in which similes are used.
Samuel Johnson was very anxious that Richardson should produce such an index to his novels. In the Correspondence of Samuel Richardson (vol. v., p. 282) is a letter from Johnson to the novelist, in which he writes: "I wish you would add an index rerum, that when the reader recollects any incident, he may easily find it, which at present he cannot do, unless he knows in which volume it is told; for Clarissa is not a performance to be read with eagerness, and laid aside for ever; but will be occasionally consulted by the busy, the aged and the studious; and therefore I beg that this edition, by which I suppose posterity is to abide, may want nothing that can facilitate its use."
At the end of each volume of Clarissa Harlowe Richardson added a sort of table of all the passages best worth remembering, and as he was the judge himself, it naturally extended to a considerable length. In September, 1753, Johnson again wrote to Richardson suggesting the propriety of making an index to his three works, but he added: "While I am writing an objection arises; such an index to the three would look like the preclusion of a fourth, to which I will never contribute; for if I cannot benefit mankind I hope never to injure them."
Richardson took the hint of his friend, and in 1755 appeared a volume of four hundred and ten pages, entitled, A Collection of the moral and instructive Sentiments, Maxims, Cautions, and Reflexions contained in the Histories of Pamela, Clarissa and Sir Charles Grandison, digested under proper heads.
The tables of sentiments are arranged in separate alphabets for each novel. The production of this book was a labour of love to its author, who, moreover, was skilled in the mechanical work of indexing, and in the early part of his career had filled up his leisure hours by compiling indexes for the booksellers and writing prefaces and dedications. At the end of his "collection" are two letters from the author to two of his admirers; one was to a lady who was solicitous for an additional volume to Sir Charles Grandison, supposing that work ended too abruptly.
David Hume is to be added to the list of celebrated men who have been indexers, although he does not appear to have liked the work. In referring to the fourth edition of his Essays he wrote: "I intend to make an index to it." Two years later he is grateful that the work of indexing another book is to be done for him; writing to Millar (December 18th, 1759), he says: "I think that an Index will be very proper, and am glad that you free me from the trouble of undertaking that task, for which I know myself to be very unfit." [4]
[ [4] Letters of David Hume to William Strahan, edited by G. Birkbeck Hill, D.C.L. Oxford, 1888.
Sir James Paget, the great surgeon, not only made indexes, but delighted in the task. He told Dr. Goodhart, apropos of the Hunterian Museum Catalogues, College of Surgeons, that "it had always been a pleasure to him to make an index." [5]
[ [5] Paget's Life, p. 350.
At the end of this chapter I must refer to an excellent blunder, because it would not be fair to introduce it with the work of the bad indexer, as it is an instance not exactly of ignorance, but of too great cleverness.
Of the Fétis Musical Library, bought by the Belgian Government at his death for 152,000 francs, an excellent catalogue was compiled and printed. In the index are references to Dumas (Alexandre) père, and Dumas (Alexandre) fils. The musician who consults the work will be surprised at this unexpected development of these two famous authors' powers, but will be disappointed on referring to the numbers cited to find that they are reports of some legal proceedings brought by the firm of Alexandre père et fils, the well-known harmonium-makers, against a rival firm. The indexer's better acquaintance with Les Trois Mousquetaires and La Dame aux Camélias led him astray.
My friend Mr. J. E. Matthew, who communicated this to me, adds: "After many years of constant use of the catalogue, this is the only mistake, beyond a literal, that I ever found."
CHAPTER II.
Amusing and Satirical Indexes.
"It will thus often happen that the controversialist states his case first in the title-page; he then gives it at greater length in the introduction; again perhaps in a preface; a third time in an analytical form through means of a table of contents; after all this skirmishing he brings up his heavy columns in the body of the book; and if he be very skilfull he may let fly a few Parthian arrows from the index."—J. Hill Burton's Book-Hunter.
NE of the last things the genuine indexer thinks of is to make his work amusing; but some wits have been very successful in producing humorous indexes, and others have seen their way to make an author ridiculous by satirically perverting his meaning in the form of an ordinary index. We can find specimens of each of these classes.
Leigh Hunt has a charming little paper, "A Word upon Indexes," in his Indicator. He writes: "Index-making has been held to be the driest as well as lowest species of writing. We shall not dispute the humbleness of it; but since we have had to make an index ourselves, [6] we have discovered that the task need not be so very dry. Calling to mind indexes in general, we found them presenting us a variety of pleasant memories and contrasts. We thought of those to the Spectator, which we used to look at so often at school, for the sake of choosing a paper to abridge. We thought of the index to the Pantheon of Fabulous Histories of the Heathen Gods, which we used to look at oftener. We remember how we imagined we should feel some day, if ever our name should appear in the list of Hs; as thus, Home, Howard, Hume, Huniades, ——. The poets would have been better, but then the names, though perhaps less unfitting, were not so flattering; as for instance Halifax, Hammond, Harte, Hughes, ——. We did not like to come after Hughes."
[ [6] To the original edition of the Indicator; the reprint (2 vols. 8vo, 1834) has no index.
The indexes to the Tatler and the Spectator are full of piquancy, and possess that admirable quality of making the consulter wish to read the book itself. The entries are so enticing that they lead you on to devour the whole book. Hunt writes of them: "We have just been looking at the indexes to the Tatler and Spectator, and never were more forcibly struck with the feeling we formerly expressed about a man's being better pleased with other writers than with himself. Our index seemed the poorest and most second-hand in the world after theirs: but let any one read theirs, and then call an index a dry thing if he can. As there 'is a soul of goodness in things evil' so there is a soul of humour in things dry, and in things dry by profession. Lawyers know this, as well as index-makers, or they would die of sheer thirst and aridity. But as grapes, ready to burst with wine, issue out of the most stony places, like jolly fellows bringing burgundy out of a cellar; so an Index, like the Tatler's, often gives us a taste of the quintessence of his humour." The very title gives good promise of what is to be found in the book: "A faithful Index of the dull as well as the ingenious passages in the Tatlers."
Here are a few entries chosen at random:
Vol. 1—
"Bachelor's scheme to govern a wife."
"Knaves prove fools."
Vol. 2—
"Actors censured for adding words of their own in their parts."
"Dead men, who."
"Dead persons heard, judged and censured.
—— Allegations laid against them, their pleas."
"Love letters before and after marriage, found in a grave."
"Mathematical sieve to sift impertinences in writing and discourse."
"News, Old People die in France."
Vol. 3—
"Flattery of women, its ill consequences."
"Maids of Honour, their allowance
of Beef for their Breakfast in Queen Elizabeth's time."
"Silence, significant on many occasions.
—— Instances of it."
Vol. 4—
"Blockheads apt to admire one another."
"Female Library proposed for the Improvement of the Sex."
"Night, longer formerly in this Island than at present."
In 1757 A General Index to the Spectators, Tatlers, and Guardians was published, and in 1760 the same work was re-issued with a new title-page. Certain supposed blots in the original indexes were here corrected and the following explanation made in the preface: "Notwithstanding the learning and care of the compilers of the first Indexes to these volumes, some slight inaccuracies have passed, and where observed they are altered. Few readers who desire to know Mr. Bickerstaff's Opinion of the Comedy called the Country Wife, or the character of Mrs. Bickerstaff as an actress, would consult the Index under the word Acts." This seems to refer to an entry in the index to the first volume of the Tatler:
"Acts the Country-Wife: (Mrs. Bignel)."
The index to the original edition of the Spectator is equally good with that of the Tatler, but the entries are longer and more elaborate than those in the latter. The references are not made to the pages, as is the case with the Tatler, but to the numbers of the papers. The following entries are worthy of quotation:
Vol. 2—
"Gentry of England generally speaking in debt."
"Great men not truly known till some years after their deaths."
"Women, the English excel all other nations in beauty.
—— Signs of their improvement under the Spectator's hands.
—— Their pains in all ages to adorn the outside of their heads."
A precursor of the Tatler and Spectator was the curious Athenian Oracle, of the eccentric John Dunton, each volume of which contained "An Alphabetical Table for the speedy finding of any questions, by a member of the Athenian Society," from which the following amusing entries are taken:
"Ark, what became of it after the Flood?"
"Bees, a swarm lit upon the Crown and Scepter in Cheapside, what do they portend?"
"Hawthorn-tree at Glassenbury, what think you of it?"
"Noah's flood, whither went the waters?"
"Pied Piper, was he a man or dæmon?"
"Triumphant Arch erected in Cheapside 1691, described."
A selection from this curious seventeenth-century miscellany was made by Mr. J. Underhill, and published by Walter Scott a few years ago.
Shenstone's Schoolmistress is one of the works of genius which is little known in the present day, but well repays perusal. A humorous table of contents was prepared by the author, which he styled an index. He wrote: "I have added a ludicrous index purely to show (fools) that I am in jest." This was afterwards omitted, but D'Israeli reprinted it in his Curiosities of Literature. It contains an amusing précis of the chief points of the poem; the whole is short, and a few extracts will give an idea of its plan:
"A circumstance in the situation of the mansion of early Discipline, discovering the surprising influence of the connexion of ideas."
"Some peculiarities indicative of a country school, with a short sketch of the sovereign presiding over it."
"Some account of her night-cap, apron and a tremendous description of her birchen sceptre."
"Her titles and punctilious nicety in the ceremonious assertion of them."
"A view of this rural potentate as seated in her chair of state, conferring honours distributing bounties and dispensing proclamations."
Gay composed a full and humorous index for his interesting picture of eighteenth-century London—Trivia. The poet added a few entries to the index in the quarto edition of his Poems (1720). The following selected references will show the character of the index:
"Asses, their arrogance."
"Autumn, what cries then in use."
"Bully, his insolence to be corrected."
"Chairs and chariots prejudicial to health."
"Cellar, the misfortune of falling into one."
"Coach fallen into a hole described."
"Glazier, his skill at football."
"London, its happiness before the invention of Coaches and Chairs."
"Periwigs, how stolen off the head."
"Quarrels for the wall to be avoided."
"Schoolboys, mischievous in frosty weather."
"Wall, to whom to be given.
—— to whom to be denied."
"Women, the ill consequence of gazing on them."
Of modern examples of the amusing index, by far the best is that added to the inimitable Biglow Papers by the accomplished author, James Russell Lowell. Here are some extracts from the index to the First Series:
"Adam, eldest son of, respected."
"Babel, probably the first congress."
"Birch, virtue of, in instilling certain of the dead languages."
"Cæsar, a tribute to. His Veni, Vidi, Vici censured for undue prolixity."
"Castles, Spanish, comfortable accommodation in."
"Eating Words, habit of, convenient in time of famine."
"Longinus recommends swearing (Fuseli did the same thing)."
"No, a monosyllable. Hard to utter."
"Noah enclosed letter in bottle, probably."
"Ulysses, husband of Penelope. Borrows money. (For full particulars see Homer and Dante.)"
"Wrong, abstract, safe to oppose."
The following are from the Second Series:
"Antony of Padua, Saint, happy in his hearers."
"Applause, popular, the summum bonum."
"'Atlantic,' editors of, See Neptune. [There is no entry under Neptune.]"
"Belmont. See Woods."
"Bible, not composed for use of coloured persons."
"Charles I, accident to his neck."
"Ezekiel would make a poor figure at a Caucus."
"Facts, their unamiability. Compared to an old fashioned stage-coach."
"Family trees, a primitive forest of."
"Jeremiah hardly the best guide in modern politics."
"Missionaries, useful to alligators. Culinary liabilities of."
"Rum and water combine kindly."
"Shoddy, poor covering for outer or inner man."
"'They'll say,' a notable bully."
"Woods, the, See Belmont."
"World, this, its unhappy temper."
"Writing, dangerous to reputation."
The witty Dr. William King, student of Christ Church, Oxford, and afterwards Judge of the Irish Court of Admiralty, presented an example of the skilled controversialist spoken of by Hill Burton as letting fly "a few Parthian arrows from the Index." He was dubbed by Isaac D'Israeli the inventor of satirical indexes, and he certainly succeeded in producing several ill-natured ones.
When the wits of Christ Church produced under the name of the Hon. Charles Boyle the clever volume with which they thought to annihilate the great Dr. Bentley, Dr. King was the one who assisted by producing a bitter index.
The first edition of Dr. Bentley's Dissertation on the Epistles of Phalaris and the Fables of Esop examin'd (1698) has no index; but Dr. King's work was added to the second edition published in the same year. It was styled, A short account of Dr. Bentley by way of Index. Then follows:
"Dr. Bentley's true story of the MS. prov'd false by the testimonies of
—— Mr. Bennet, p. 6.
—— Mr. Gibson, p. 7.
—— Dr. King, p. 8.
—— Dr. Bentley, p. 19."
"Dr. Bentley's civil usage of Mr. Boyle.
"His civil language to
—— Mr. Boyle.
—— Sir W. Temple.
"His singular humanity to
—— Mr. Boyle.
—— Sir Edward Sherburne.
humanity to Foreigners.
"His Ingenuity in
—— relating matters of fact.
—— citing authors.
—— transcribing and plundering
notes and prefaces of
—— Mr. Boyle.
—— Vizzanius.
—— Nevelet.
—— Camerarius.
—— Editor of Hesychius.
—— Salmasius.
—— Dr. Bentley.
"His appeal to Foreigners.
—— a suspicious plan.
—— a false one.
"His modesty and decency in contradicting great men.
"(Long list from Plato to Every body).
"His happiness in confident assertions for want
—— of Reading.
—— of Judgment.
—— of Sincerity.
"His profound skill in Criticism
From beginning to
The End."
This is certainly more vindictive than witty.
All the wits rushed madly into the fray, and Swift, in his "Battel fought last Friday between the Antient and Modern Books in St. James's Library," committed himself irretrievably to the wrong side in this way: "A captain whose name was B-ntl-y, in person the most deformed of all the moderns; tall but without shape or comeliness, large but without strength or proportion. His armour was patched up of a thousand incoherent pieces...."
Then look at the leader of the opposing host: "Boyl clad in a suit of armor which had been given him by all the gods immediately advanced against the trembling foe, who now fled before him."
It is amazing that such a perverted judgment should have been given by some of our greatest writers, but all is to be traced to Bentley's defects of temper, so that Dr. King was not altogether wrong in his index.
Sir George Trevelyan in his Life of Macaulay refers to Bentley's famous maxim (which in print and talk alike he dearly loved to quote), that no man was ever written down except by himself, and quotes what the historian wrote after perhaps his tenth perusal of Bishop Monk's life of the great critic: "Bentley seems to me an eminent instance of the extent to which intellectual powers of a most rare and admirable kind may be impaired by moral defects."
Charles Boyle's book went through four editions, and still there was silence; but at last appeared the "immortal" Dissertation, as Porson calls it, which not only defeated his enemies, but routed them completely. Bentley's Dissertation upon the Epistles of Phalaris, with an answer to the objections of the Hon. C. Boyle, Esq., first appeared in 1699. De Quincey described it as one of the three most triumphant dissertations existing upon the class of historico-critical problems, "All three are loaded with a superfetation of evidence, and conclusive beyond what the mind altogether wishes." [7]
In another place De Quincey points out the line of argument followed by Bentley: "It was by anachronisms of this character that Bentley detected the spuriousness of the letters ascribed to Phalaris. Sicilian towns, &c., were in those letters called by names that did not arise until that prince had been dead for centuries. Manufactures were mentioned that were of much later invention. As handles for this exposure of a systematic forgery, which oftentimes had a moral significance, these indications were valuable, and gave excessive brilliancy to that immortal dissertation of Bentley's." [8]
[ [7] Rosicrucians and Free-Masons (De Quincey's Works, vol. 13, p. 388).
[ [8] Memorial Chronology (De Quincey's Works, vol. 14, p. 309).
The fate which the wits thought to bring upon Bentley fell upon them, and they quarrelled among themselves. It was believed that Charles Boyle, when credit was to be obtained, looked upon himself as author of the book; but afterwards, when it was discredited, he only awaited the public trial of the conspirators to wash his hands of the whole affair. Atterbury, who had much to do with the production of the volume, was particularly annoyed by Boyle's conduct. He wrote to Boyle: "In laying the design of the book, in writing above half of it, in reviewing [revising] a great part of the rest, in transcribing the whole and attending the press, half a year of my life went away. What I promised myself from hence was that some service would be done to your reputation, and that you would think so. In the first of these I was not mistaken—in the latter I am. When you were abroad, sir, the highest you could prevail with yourself to go in your opinion of the book was, that you hoped it would do you no harm. When you returned I supposed you would have seen that it had been far from hurting you. However, you have not thought fit to let me know your mind on this matter; for since you came to England, no one expression, that I know of, has dropped from you that could give me reason to believe you had any opinion of what I had done, or even took it kindly from me." [9]
[ [9] Memoirs of Bishop Atterbury, compiled by Folkestone Williams, vol. i. (1869), p. 42.
In the same year (1698) King turned his attention to a less formidable antagonist than the great Bentley. His Journey to London is a very ingenious parody of Dr. Martin Lister's Journey to Paris, and, the pages of the original being referred to, it forms an index to that book.
The Royal Society in its early years had to pass through a long period of ridicule and misrepresentation. The author of Hudibras commenced the crusade, but the gibes of Butler were easier to bear than those of Dr. William King, who was particularly savage against Sir Hans Sloane. The Transactioneer (1700) and Useful Transactions in Philosophy (1708-1709) were very galling to the distinguished naturalist, and annoyed the Royal Society, whose Philosophical Transactions were unmercifully laughed at. To both the tracts referred to were prefixed satirical tables of contents, and what made them the more annoying was that the author's own words were very ingeniously used and turned against him. King writes: "The bulls and blunders which Sloane and his friends so naturally pour forth cannot be misrepresented, so careful I am in producing them."
Here is a specimen of the contents of The Transactioneer:
"The Tatler's Opinion of a Virtuoso."
"Some Account of Sir Hans Sloane.
—— of Dr. Salmon.
—— of Mr. Oldenburg.
—— of Dr. Plot."
"The Compiling of the Philosophical Transactions the work of a single person.
—— the excellence of his style.
—— his clearness and perspicacity.
—— Genius to Poetry.
—— Verses on Jamaica Pepper.
—— Politicks in Gardening.
—— Skill in Botanicks."
The following appear in the contents of the "Voyage to Cajamai" in Useful Transactions:
Preface of the author—
"Knew a white bramble in a dark room."
Author's introduction—
"Mountains higher than hills."
"Hay good for horses."
The most important of King's indexes was that added to Bromley's Travels, because it had the effect of balking a distinguished political character of his ambition of filling the office of Speaker of the House of Commons.
William Bromley (1664-1732), after leaving Christ Church, Oxford, spent several years in travelling on the Continent. He was elected a Member of Parliament in 1689, and soon occupied a prominent position among the non-jurors. In 1692 he published "Remarks in the Grande Tour of France and Italy, lately performed by a Person of quality. London. Printed by E. H. for Tho. Basset at the George in Fleet Street, 1692." A second edition appeared in the following year: "Remarks made in Travels through France and Italy, with many Publick Inscriptions. Lately taken by a Person of Quality. London (Thomas Basset) 1693."
In March, 1701-1702, Bromley was elected Member of Parliament for the University of Oxford, which he continued to represent during the remainder of his life. In 1702 he published another volume of travels: "Several Years' Travels through Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, Prussia, Sweden, Denmark and the United Provinces performed by a Gentleman."
In 1705 Bromley was supposed to have pre-eminent claims to the Speakership, which office was then vacant; but what was supposed to be a certainty was turned into failure by the action of his opponents. They took the opportunity of reprinting his Remarks, with the addition of a satirical index, as an electioneering squib. This reprint appeared as "Remarks in the Grand Tour ... performed by a Person of Quality in the year 1691. The second edition to which is added a table of the principal matters. London. Printed for John Nutt near Stationers' Hall, 1705." This was really the third edition, but probably the reprinters overlooked the edition of 1693. It was reprinted with the original licence of "Rob. Midgley, Feb. 20th, 1691-2."
In the Bodleian copy of this book there is a manuscript note by Dr. Rawlinson to the effect that this index was drawn up by Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford; but this was probably only a party rumour. Dr. Parr possessed Bromley's own copy of the reprint with the following manuscript note by the author:
"This edition of these travels is a specimen of the good nature and good manners of the Whigs, and I have reason to believe of one of the ministry (very conversant in this sort of calumny) for the sake of publishing 'the Table of the principal matters &c' to expose me whom the gentlemen of the Church of England designed to be Speaker of the House of Commons, in the Parliament, that met Oct. 25 1705. When notwithstanding the Whigs and Court joining to keep me out of the chair, and the greatest violence towards the Members, turning out some, and threatening others, to influence their votes, I had the honour (and I shall ever esteem it a greater honour than my competitor's success) to have the suffrages of 205 disinterested gentlemen for me: such a number as never lost such a question before; and such as, with the addition of those that by force, and contrary to their inclination, with the greatest reluctance voted against me, must have prevailed for me.
"This was a very malicious proceeding; my words and meaning plainly perverted in several places; which if they had been improper, and any observations trifling or impertinent, an allowance was due for my being very young, when they were made. But the performances of others, not entitled to such allowance may be in this manner exposed, as appears by the like Tables published for the Travels of Bp. Burnet and Mr. Addison. Wm. Bromley."
Dr. Parr took this all very seriously, and set great value upon the book. He added a note to that written by Bromley, in which he said:
"Mr. Bromley was very much galled with the republication, and the ridiculous, but not untrue, representation of the contents. Such a work would unavoidably expose the author to derision: instead therefore of suffering it to be sold after my death, and to become a subject of contemptuous gossip, or an instrument of party annoyance, I think it a proper act of respect and kindness for the Bromley family, for me to put it in possession of the Rev. Mr. Davenport Bromley, upon the express condition that he never sells it nor gives it away, that, after reading it, he seals it up carefully and places it where no busy eye, nor thievish hand can reach it.
"S. P."
This note was written in 1823, and the precautions taken by Parr seem rather belated. Even the family were little likely to mind the public seeing a political skit more than a century old, which did no dishonour to their ancestor's character.
It is very probable that Harley was at the expense of reprinting the book, as it is reported that every one who came to his house was asked if he had seen Mr. Bromley's Travels; and when the answer was in the negative, Harley at once fetched a copy, which he presented to his visitor. There is no doubt, however, that the index was drawn up by Dr. King.
The index is neither particularly amusing nor clever, but it is very ill-natured. Dr. Parr infers that the book is not misrepresented, but there can be little doubt that the index is in most instances very unfair. Thus the first entry in the table is:
"Chatham, where and how situated, viz. on the other side of Rochester bridge, though commonly reported to be on this side, p. 1."
The passage indexed is quite clear, and contains the natural statement of a fact.
"Lodged at Rochester, an episcopal seat in the same county [Kent]. The cathedral church is plain and decent, and the city appears well peopled. When I left it and passed the Bridge I was at Chatham, the famous Dock, where so many of our great ships are built."
The following are some further entries from the index:
"Dover and Calais neither of them places of Strength tho' frontier towns, p. 2."
"Boulogne the first city on the French shore, lies on the coast, p. 2." [These are the same words as in the book.]
"Crosses and Crucifixes on the Roads in France prove it not England, p. 3."
The passage here indexed is as follows:
"Crosses and Crucifixes are so plentiful every where on this road, that from them alone an Englishman will be satisfied he is out of his own country; besides the Roads are much better than ours."
"Eight pictures take up less room than sixteen of the same size, p. 14."
This is founded on the following:
"They contain the Histories of the Old and New Testaments, and are placed in two rows one above the other; those that represent the Old Testament are in the uppermost reaching round the room and are sixteen. Those of the new are under them, but being only eight reach not so far as the former, and where no pictures are be the doors to the presses where the sacred vestments are kept."
"Travelling by night not proper to take a view of the adjacent countries, p. 223."
This is a version of the following:
"The heat of the weather made travelling in the night most desirable and we chose it between Sienna and Florence.... By this means I could see little of the country."
"The Duchess dowager of Savoy who was grandmother to the present Duke was mother to his father, p. 243."
This is a perversion of the following perfectly natural observation:
"This was designed by the Dutchess Christina grandmother of this Duke in the minority of her son (his father) in 1660."
The entry, "Jews at Legorn not obliged to wear red hats, p. 223," contains nothing absurd, but rather is an interesting piece of information, because the Jews were obliged to wear these hats in other parts of Italy, and it was the knowledge of this fact that induced Macklin to wear a red hat when acting Shylock, a personation which induced an admirer to exclaim:
"This is the Jew
That Shakespeare drew."
Such perversions as these could have done Bromley, one would think, little harm; but the real harm done consisted in bringing to light and insisting upon the author's political attitude when he referred to King William and Queen Mary as "the Prince and Princess of Orange." The passage is as follows:
"A gallery, where among the pictures of Christian Princes are those of King Charles the Second and his Queen, King James the Second and his Queen and the Prince and Princess of Orange."
It would indeed seem strange that one who had thus referred to his King and Queen should occupy so important a public office as Speaker of the House of Commons. Another ground of offence was that when in Rome he kissed the Pope's slipper.
Although Bromley was disappointed in 1705, his time came; and after the Tory reaction consequent on the trial of Sacheverell he was in 1710 chosen Speaker without opposition. There is a portrait of Bromley in the University Picture Gallery in the Bodleian at Oxford.
CHAPTER III.
The Bad Indexer.
"At the laundress's at the Hole in the Wall in Cursitor's Alley up three pair of stairs, the author of my Church history—you may also speak to the gentleman who lies by him in the flock bed, my index maker."—Swift's Account of the Condition of Edmund Curll (Instructions to a porter how to find Mr. Curll's authors).
AD indexers are everywhere, and what is most singular is that each one makes the same sort of blunders—blunders which it would seem impossible that any one could make, until we find these same blunders over and over again in black and white. One of the commonest is to place the references under unimportant words, for which no one would think of looking, such as A and The. The worst indexes of this class are often added to journals and newspapers. A good instance of confusion will be found in the index to a volume of The Freemason which is before me; but this is by no means singular, and certainly not the worst of its class. Under A we find the following entries:
"Afternoon Outing of the Skelmersdale Lodge."
"An Oration delivered," etc.
"Annual Outing of the Queen Victoria Lodge."
"Another Masonic MS."
Under B:
"Bro. Bain's Masonic Library."
Under F:
"First Ball of the Fellowship Lodge.
"First Ladies' Night."
Under I:
"Interesting Extract from an 'Old Masonian's' Letter."
Under L:
"Ladies' Banquet."
"Ladies' Night."
"Ladies' Summer Outing."
"Late Bro. Sir B. W. Richardson."
Under N:
"New Grand Officers."
"New Home for Keighley Freemasons."
"New Masonic Hall."
Under O:
"Our Portrait Gallery."
Under R:
"Recent Festival."
Under S:
"Send-off dinner."
"Summer Festival."
"Summer Outing."
Under T:
"Third Ladies' Night."
Under Y:
"Ye olde Masonians."
There are many other absurd headings, but these are the worst instances. They show the confusion of not only placing references where they would never be looked for, but of giving similar entries all over the index under whatever heading came first to the mind of the indexer. For instance, there is one Afternoon Outing, one Annual Outing, one Ladies' Outing, one Summer Outing, and three other Outings under O. None of these have any references the one from the other.
There are a large number of indexes in which not only the best heading is not chosen, but the very worst is. Thus, choosing at random, we find such an order as the following in an old volume of the Canadian Journal:
"A Monograph of the British Spongiadæ."
"On the Iodide of Barium."
"Sir Charles Barry, a Biography."
"The late Professor Boole."
"The Mohawk Language."
The same misarrangement will sometimes be found even in standard English journals.
The edition of Jewel's Apology, published by Isaacson in 1825, contains an index which is worthy of special remark. It is divided into four alphabets, referring respectively to (1) Life; (2) Apology; (3) Notes to Life; (4) Notes to Apology; and this complicated machinery is attached to a book of only 286 pages. I think it is scarcely too much to say that there is hardly an entry in the index which would be of any use to the consulter. A few examples will show that this is not an unfair judgment:
"Caution, Reformers proceeded with Caution."
"If Protestants are Heretics let the Papists prove them so from Scripture."
"In withdrawing themselves from the Church of Rome, Protestants have not erred from Christ and his Apostles."
"King John."
"The Pope assumes Regal power and habit."
"Ditto employs spies."
That this idiotic kind of index (which can be of no possible use to any one) is not yet extinct may be seen in one of those daintily printed books of essays which are now so common. In mercy I will not mention the title, but merely say that it was published in 1901. A few extracts will show the character of the work:
"A Book," etc.
"Is public taste," etc.
"On reading old books."
"The advantage," etc.
"The blessedness," etc.
"The Book-stall Reader."
"The Girl," etc.
"The Preservative," etc.
"The Prosperity," etc.
"Two Classes of Literature."
There are many instances of such bad indexes, but it would be tedious to quote more of them. The amazing thing is that many persons unconnected with one another should be found to do the same ridiculous work, and suppose that by any possibility it could be of use to a single human being. But what is even more astounding is to find intelligent editors passing such useless rubbish and wasting good type and paper upon it.
Another prominent blunder in indexing periodicals is to follow in the index the divisions of the paper. In an alphabetical index there should be no classification, but the alphabet should be followed throughout. Nothing is so maddening to consult as an index in which the different divisions of the periodical are kept distinct, with a separate alphabet under each. It is hopeless to consult these, and it is often easier to turn over the pages and look through the volume than to refer to the index. The main object of an index is to bring together all the items on a similar subject which are separated in the book itself.
The indexes of some periodicals are good, but those of the many are bad. Mr. Poole and his helpers, who had an extensive experience of periodical literature, made the following rule to be observed in the new edition of Poole's Index to Periodical Literature:
"All references must be made from an inspection, and if necessary the perusal of each article. Hence, no use will be made of the index which is usually printed with the volume, or of any other index. Those indexes were made by unskilful persons, and are full of all sorts of errors. It will be less work to discard them entirely than to supply their omissions and correct their errors."
This rule is sufficiently severe, but it cannot be said that it is unjust.
Miss Hetherington, who has had a singularly large experience of indexes to periodicals, has no higher idea of these than Mr. Poole. In an article on "The Indexing of Periodicals" in the Index to the Periodical Literature of the World for 1892, she gives a remarkable series of instances of absurd entries. Some of these are due to the vicious habit of trying to save trouble by cutting up the lists of contents, and repeating the entries under different headings. Miss Hetherington's examples are well worth repeating; but as bad indexing is the rule, it is scarcely worth while to gibbet any one magazine, as most of them are equally bad. It is only amazing how any one in authority can allow such absurdities as the following to be printed. These six groups are from one magazine:
"Academy in Africa, A Monkey's."
"Africa, A Monkey's Academy in."
"Monkey's Academy in Africa, A."
"Aspects, The Renaissance in its Broader."
"Renaissance in its Broader Aspects, The."
"Campaign, His Last, and After."
"His Last Campaign, and After."
"Entertainment, The Triumph of the Variety."
"Triumph of the Variety Entertainment, The."
"Variety Entertainment, The Triumph of the."
"Evicted Tenants, The Irish, Are they Knaves?"
"Irish Evicted Tenants, The, Are they Knaves?"
"French Revolution, Scenes from the."
"Revolution, Scenes from the French."
"Scenes from the French Revolution."
Miss Hetherington adds, respecting this particular magazine: "But the whole index might be quoted. The indexer seems to have had three lists of contents for his purpose, but he has not always dared to use more than two, and so "The Irish Evicted Tenants" do not figure under the class "Knaves." The contributors are on another page, with figures only against their names, the cause of reference not being specified."
Equally absurd, and contrived on a similar system, are the following entries from another magazine:
"Eastern Desert on Foot, Through an."
"Foot, Through an Eastern Desert on."
"Through an Eastern Desert on Foot."
"Finds, The Rev. J. Sturgis's."
"Sturgis's Finds, The Rev. J."
"Complexion! What a Pretty."
"Pretty Complexion! What a."
"What a Pretty Complexion!"
These two groups are from a very prominent magazine:
"Creek in Demerara, Up a."
"Demerara, Up a Creek in."
"Up a Creek in Demerara."
"Home, The Russians at."
"Russians at Home, The."
"The Russians at Home."
In the foregoing, by giving three entries, one, by chance, may be correct; but in the following case there are two useless references:
"Baron de Marbot, The Memoirs of the."
"Memoirs of the Baron de Marbot, The."
But nothing under Marbot.
Some indexers have a fancy for placing authors under their Christian names, as these three from one index.
"Philip Bourke Marston."
"Walt Whitman."
These entries are amusing:
"Foot in it, On Putting One's."
"On Putting One's Foot in it."
Surely it is strange that such absurdities as these should continue to be published! Mr. Poole drew attention to the evil, and Miss Hetherington has done the same; yet it continues, and publishers are not ashamed to print such rubbish as that just instanced. We may add a quite recent instance—viz. Longman's Magazine for October, 1901, which contains an index to the thirty-eighth volume. It occupies two pages in double columns, and there are no duplicate entries. In that small space I find these useless entries:
"According to the Code" (not under Code).
"Disappearance of Plants" (not under Plants).
"Eighteenth Century London through French Eye-glasses" (not under London).
"Gilbert White" (not under White).
"Mission of Mr. Rider Haggard" (not under Haggard).
"Some Eighteenth Century Children's Books" (not under Children's Books).
"Some Notes on an Examination" (not under Examination).
The two chief causes of the badness of indexes are found—
1. In the original composition.
2. In the bad arrangement.
Of the first cause little need be said. The chief fault is due to the incompetence of the indexer, shown by his use of trivial references, his neglect of what should be indexed, his introduction of what might well be left out, his bad analysis, and his bad headings.
The second cause is still more important, because a competent indexer may prepare his materials well, and keep clear of all the faults noticed above, and yet spoil his work by neglect of a proper system of arrangement.
The chief faults under this second division consist of—
1. Want of complete alphabetisation.
2. Classification within the alphabet.
3. Variety of alphabets.
These are all considerable faults, and will therefore bear being enlarged upon.
1. The want of complete alphabetisation is a great evil, but it was very general at one time. In some old indexes references are arranged under the first letter only. In the index to a large and valuable map of England, published at the beginning of this century, the names of places are not arranged further than the third letter, and this naturally gives great trouble to the consulter. In order to save himself, the compiler has given others a considerably greater amount of trouble. In arranging entries in alphabetical order it is necessary to sort them to the most minute difference of spelling. The alphabetical arrangement, however, has its difficulties, which must be overcome; for instance, it looks awkward when the plural comes before the singular, and the adjective before the substantive from which it is formed, as "naval" and "navies" before "navy." In such cases it will be necessary to make a heading such as "Navy," which will include the plural and the adjective.
The vowel I should be kept distinct from the consonant J, and the vowel U from the consonant V.
More blunders have probably been made by the confusing of u and n in old books than from any other cause. These letters are identical in early manuscripts, and consequently the modern copyist has to decide which letter to choose, and sometimes he blunders.
In Capgrave's Chronicles of England is a reference to the "londe of Iude," but this is misspelt "Inde" in the edition published in the Master of the Rolls' Series in 1858. Here is a simple misprint caused by the misreading of I for J and n for u; but this can easily be set right. The indexer, however, has enlarged it into a wonderful blunder. Under the letter I is the following curious piece of information:
"India ... conquered by Judas Maccabeus and his brethren, 56"!!
Many more instances of this confusion of the letters u and n might be given, some of them causing permanent confusion of names; but two (which are the complement of each other) will suffice.
George London was a very eminent horticulturist in his day, who at the Revolution was appointed Superintendent of the Royal Gardens; but he can seldom get his name properly spelt because a later horticulturist has made the name of Loudon more familiar. In fact, I was once called to account by a reviewer who supposed I had made a mistake in referring to London instead of Loudon. The reverse mistake was once made by the great Duke of Wellington. C. J. Loudon (who wrote a very bad hand) requested the Duke to let him see the Waterloo beeches at Stratfieldsaye. The letter puzzled Wellington, who knew nothing of the horticulturist, and read C. J. Loudon as C. J. London, and beeches as breeches; so he wrote off to the then Bishop of London (Dr. Blomfield) to say that his Waterloo breeches disappeared long ago.
2. Classification within the alphabet.—Examples have already been given where the arrangement of the book is followed rather than the alphabetical order; but these were instances of bad indexing, and sometimes a good indexer fails in the same way, thus showing how important is good arrangement. An index of great complexity, one full of scientific difficulties, was once made by a very able man. The précis was admirable, and the various subjects were gathered together under their headings with great skill—in fact, it could not well have been more perfect; but it had one flaw which spoiled it. The nature of the index necessitated a large number of subdivisions under the various chief headings; these were arranged on a system clear to the compiler, and probably a logical one to him. But the user of the index had not the clue to this arrangement, and he could not find his way through the complicated maze; it was an unfortunate instance of extreme cleverness. When the index was finished, but before it was published, a simple remedy for the confusion was suggested and carried out. The whole of the subdivisions under each main heading were rearranged in perfect alphabetical order. This was a heroic proceeding, but it was highly successful, and the rearranged index gave satisfaction, and the same system was followed in other indexes that succeeded it.
3. Variety of alphabets.—An index should be one and indivisible, and should not be broken up into several alphabets. Foreigners are greater sinners against this fundamental rule than Englishmen, and they almost invariably separate the author or persons from subjects. Sometimes, however, the division is not very carefully made, for in the Autoren Register to Carus' and Engelmann's Bibliography of Zoology may be found the following entries: Schreiben, Schriften, Zu Humboldt's Cosmos, Zur Fauna. Some English books are much divided. Thus the new edition of Hutchins's Dorset (1874) has at the end eight separate indexes: (1) Places, (2) Pedigrees, (3) Persons, (4) Arms, (5) Blazons, (6) Glossarial, (7) Domesday, (8) Inquisitions.
The index to the original quarto edition of Warton's History of English Poetry (1774) has six alphabets, but a general index compiled by Thomas Fillingham, was published in 1804, uniform with the work in quarto. The general index to the Annual Register has as many as fourteen alphabets. The general index to the Reports of the British Association is split up into six alphabets, following the divisions of each volume.
4. Want of cross references.—Although an alphabetical index should not be classified, yet it is necessary to gather together the synonyms, and place all the references under the best of these headings, with cross references from the others. For instance, Wealth should be under W, Finance under F, and Population under P; and they should not all be grouped under Political Economy, because each of these subjects is distinct and more conveniently found under the separate heading than under a grouped heading. On the other hand, entries relating to Tuberculosis must not be scattered over the index under such headings as Consumption, Decline, and Phthisis, but be gathered together under the heading chosen, with cross references from the others. In bad indexes this rule is invariably broken, and it must be allowed that the proper carrying out of this rule is very difficult, so that where it is invariably adopted, we have one of the best signs of a really good index. Bad indexers are usually much too haphazard in their work to insert cross references.
The careful use of cross references is next in importance to the selection of appropriate headings. Great judgment, however, is required, as the consulters are naturally irritated by being referred backwards and forwards, particularly in a large index. At the same time, if judiciously inserted, such references are a great help. Mr. Poole says, in an article on his own index in the Library Journal: "If every subject shall have cross references to its allies, the work will be mainly a book of cross references rather than an index of subjects." He then adds: "One correspondent gives fifty-eight cross references under Mental Philosophy, and fifty-eight more might be added just as appropriate."
The indexer should be careful that his cross references are real, but he has not always attended to this. In Eadie's Dictionary of the Bible (1850) there is a reference, "Dorcas see Tabitha," but there is no entry under Tabitha at all.
In Cobbett's Woodlands there is a good specimen of backwards and forwards cross referencing. The author writes:
"Many years ago I wished to know whether I could raise birch trees from the seed.... I then looked into the great book of knowledge, the Encyclopædia Britannica; there I found in the general dictionary:
"'Birch tree—See Betula (Botany Index).'
"I hastened to Betula with great eagerness, and there I found:
"'Betula—See Beech tree.'
"That was all, and this was pretty encouragement."
William Morris used to make merry over the futility of some cross references. He was using a print of an old English manuscript which was full of notes in explanation of self-evident passages, but one difficult expression—viz. "The bung of a thrub chandler"—was left unexplained. In the index under Bung there was a reference to Thrub chandler, and under Thrub chandler another back to Bung. Still the lexicographers are unable to tell us what kind of a barrel a "thrub chandler" really was. I give this story on the authority of my friend, Mr. S. C. Cockerell.
No reference to the contents of a general heading which is without subdivision should be allowed unless of course the page is given.
There are too many vague cross references in the Penny Cyclopædia where you are referred from the known to the unknown. If a general heading be divided into sections, and each of these be clearly defined, they should be cross referenced, but not otherwise. At present you may look for Pesth and be referred to Hungary, where probably there is much about Pesth, but you do not know where to look for it in the long article without some clue. Sometimes cross references are mere expedients, particularly in the case of a cyclopædia published in volumes or parts. Thus a writer agrees to contribute an article early in the alphabet, but it is not ready in time for the publication of the part, so a cross reference is inserted which sends the reader to a synonym later on in the alphabet. In certain cases this has been done two or three times. An instance occurs in the life of the distinguished bibliographer, the late Henry Bradshaw (than whom no one was more capable of producing a masterly article), who undertook to write on "Printing" in the Encyclopædia Britannica. When the time for publication arrived (1885), Bradshaw was not ready, and in place of the article appeared the cross reference, "Printing, Typographic—See Typography." Bradshaw died on February 10, 1886, and the article on "Typography" which was published in Vol. 23 in 1888, was written by Mr. Hessels.
Cross referencing has its curiosities as well as other branches of our subject. Perhaps the most odd collection of cross references is to be found in Serjeant William Hawkins's Pleas of the Crown (1716; 5th ed., 1771; 7th ed., 4 vols., 1795), of which it was said in the Monthly Magazine for June, 1801 (p. 419): "A plain, unlettered man is led to suspect that the writer of the volume and the writer of the index are playing at cross purposes."
The following are some of the most amusing entries:
"Cards see Dice."
"Cattle see Clergy."
"Chastity see Homicide."
"Cheese see Butter."
"Coin see High Treason."
"Convicts see Clergy."
"Death see Appeal."
"Election see Bribery."
"Farthings see Halfpenny."
"Fear see Robbery."
"Footway see Nuisance."
"Honour see Constable."
"Incapacity see Officers."
"King see Treason."
"Knaves see Words."
"London see Outlawry."
"Shop see Burglary."
"Sickness see Bail."
"Threats see Words."
"Westminster Hall see Contempt and Lie."
"Writing see Treason."
This arrangement of some of the cross references is perhaps scarcely fair. They are spread over several elaborate indexes in the original, and in their proper places do not strike one in the same way as when they are set out by themselves. One of the instances given by the critic in the Monthly Magazine is unfairly cited. It is there given as "Assault see Son." The cross reference really is, "Assault see Son Assault."
Hawkins's work is divided into two parts, and the folio editions have two indexes, one to each part; the octavo edition has four indexes, one to each volume.
The index to Ford's Handbook of Spain contains an amusing reference:
"Wellington, see Duke."
Besides these four divisions of the chief faults in indexing, there are many other pitfalls gaping wide to receive the careless indexer.
Names are a great difficulty, but it is not necessary to refer to these more generally here, as they are fully dealt with in the rules (see Chapter VI.)
It is not often that an English indexer has to index a French book, but should he do so he would often need to be careful. The Frenchman does not care to leave that which he does not understand unexplained. The translation of Love's Last Shift as La Dernière Chemise de l'Amour, attributed by Horace Walpole to the Dowager Duchess of Bolton in George I.'s reign, is probably an invention, but some translations quite as amusing are genuine. G. Brunet of Bordeaux, having occasion in his La France Littéraire au XV^e siècle to mention "White Knights," at one time the seat of the Duke of Marlborough, translates it into Le Chevalier Blanc. When Dr. Buckland, the geologist, died, a certain French paper published a biography of him in which it was explained that the deceased had been a very versatile writer, for besides his work on geology he had produced one Sur les Ponts et Chaussées. This was a puzzling statement, but it turned out to be a translation of Bridgewater Treatises, in which series his Geology and Mineralogy was published in 1837.
Sometimes contractions give trouble to the indexer, and he must be careful not to fill them out unless he is sure of what they mean. Many blunders have been made in this way. In the Historie of Edward IV. (1471), edited by that careful and trustworthy antiquary John Bruce for the Camden Society in 1838, there is the following remarkable statement: "Wherefore the Kynge may say, as Julius Cæsar sayde, he that is not agaynst me is with me."
This chapter might be made a very long one by instancing a series of badly indexed books, but this would be a tedious recital devoid of any utility, for the blunders and carelessness of the bad indexer are singularly alike in their futility. It is nevertheless worth while to mention the index to Peter Cunningham's complete edition of Walpole's Letters, because that work deserves a good index. We may hope that when Mrs. Toynbee publishes her new and complete edition of the Letters, she will add a really satisfactory index. The present index is very bad and most irritating to the person who uses it. Examples of most of the careless and foolish blunders in indexing are to be found here; for instance, there are long lists of references without indication of the reason for any of them. The same person is entered in two places if he is spoken of under slightly different names. The same nobleman is referred to as Lord —— and as the Earl of ——, while sometimes a heading devoted to Lord —— contains references to two distinct men. Van Eyck has one reference under Van and another under Eyck. Mrs. Godfrey is entered under both Godfrey and La Godfrey. Many other absurdities are to be found in the index, but the extract of one heading will be sufficient to show how ill the arrangement is:
"Gower, edition of,
—— Baptist Leveson,
—— Countess of,
—— Dowager Lady,
—— Duke of,
—— Earl of,
—— John, Earl,
—— Lady,
—— Lady Elizabeth,
—— Lady Mary Leveson,
—— Lord,
—— Richard Leveson."
There is no authority at all for a Duke of Gower, and if we look up the reference (iv. 39) we find that it refers to "the late Lord G——," possibly the Earl Gower.
The confusion by which two persons are made into one has sometimes an evil consequence worse than putting the consulter of an index on the wrong scent, for the character of an innocent person may be taken away by this means. (Constance) Lady Russell of Swallowfield points out in Notes and Queries, that in the index to Familiar Letters of Sir Walter Scott (1894) there are three references under Lady Charlotte Campbell, one of which is to a Lady C——, really intended for the notorious Lady Conyngham, mistress to George IV. In another index Mary Bellenden is described thus: "Bellenden, Miss, Mistress of George II." This is really too bad; for the charming maid of honour called by Gay "Smiling Mary, soft and fair as down," turned a deaf ear to the importunities of the king, as we know on the authority of Horace Walpole.
The index to Lord Braybrooke's edition of Pepys's Diary has many faults, mostly due to bad arrangement; but it must be allowed that there is a great difficulty in indexing a private diary such as this. The diarist knew to whom he was referring when he mentioned Mr. or Mrs.——; but where there are two or more persons of the same name, it is hard to distinguish between them correctly. This has been a stumbling-block in the compilation of the index to the new edition, in which a better system was attempted.
It has been said that a bad index is better than no index at all, but this statement is open to question. Still, all must agree that an indexless book is a great evil. Mr. J. H. Markland is the authority for the declaration that "the omission of an index when essential should be an indictable offence." Carlyle denounces the publishers of books unprovided with this necessary appendage; and Baynes, the author of the Archæological Epistle to Dean Mills (usually attributed to Mason), concocted a terrible curse against such evil-doers. The reporter was the learned Francis Douce, who said to Mr. Thoms: "Sir, my friend John Baynes used to say that the man who published a book without an index ought to be damned ten miles beyond Hell, where the Devil could not get for stinging-nettles." [10] Lord
Campbell proposed that any author who published a book without an index should be deprived of the benefits of the Copyright Act; and the Hon. Horace Binney, LL.D., a distinguished American lawyer, held the same views, and would have condemned the culprit to the same punishment. Those, however, who hold the soundest views sometimes fail in practice; thus Lord Campbell had to acknowledge that he had himself sinned before the year 1857.
[ [10] Notes and Queries, 5th Series, VIII. 87.
These are the words written by Lord Campbell in the preface to the first volume of his Lives of the Chief Justices (1857): "I have only further to express my satisfaction in thinking that a heavy weight is now to be removed from my conscience. So essential did I consider an index to be to every book, that I proposed to bring a Bill into Parliament to deprive an author who publishes a book without an Index of the privilege of copyright; and moreover to subject him for his offence to a pecuniary penalty. Yet from difficulties started by my printers, my own books have hitherto been without an Index. But I am happy to announce that a learned friend at the Bar, on whose accuracy I can place entire reliance, has kindly prepared a copious index, which will be appended to this work, and another for a new stereotyped edition of the Lives of the Chancellors."
Mr. John Morley, in an article in the Fortnightly Review on Mr. Russell's edition of Matthew Arnold's Letters, lifts up his voice against an indexless book. He says: "One damning sin of omission Mr. Russell has indeed perpetrated: the two volumes have no index, nor even a table of contents." [11] George Selwyn and his Contemporaries, a most interesting but badly arranged book, by John Heneage Jesse, was published without an index, and a new edition was issued (1882) also without this necessary addition. The student of the manners of the eighteenth century must constantly refer to this book, and yet it is almost impossible to find in it what you want without great waste of labour. I have found it necessary to make a manuscript index for my own use.
[ [11] Quoted Notes and Queries, 8th Series, IX. 425.
