A LIST OF TECHNICAL
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL TERMS,
AFTER PIERQUIN DE GEMBLOUX.
ADULTERISM.—Name altered or adulterated, as Veyrat (Verat), d’Alembert (Dalembert), de Foe (Defoe).[1]
ALLONYM (Allonymous).—False proper name. Work published in order to deceive, under the name of some author, or person of reputation, but not by him, as Peter Parley, (Annual).[2]
ALPHABETISM.—As A B C—X Y Z. Frequently used.
ANAGRAM (Anagrammatic).—The letters of the name or names arbitrarily inverted,[3] with or without meaning, as d’Erquar (Quérard), de Ravanne (de Varenne), Riand Jhevey (Jean Divry), Yomns (Simon).
ANANYM.—See Boustrophedon.
ANONYM (Anonymous).—Book without a name on the title-page. Strictly speaking, a book would not be an anonym if the author’s name were to be found anywhere in it; but a book is generally considered anonymous if there is no name on the title-page.
APOCONYM.—Name deprived of one or more initial letters.
APOCRYPHAL.—Book whose author is uncertain.
ARISTONYM.—Title of nobility, converted into or used as a proper name.
ASCETONYM.—The name of a Saint used as a proper name: Saint-Jean, (la mère Angélique de), (i.e., Angélique d’Arnauld d’Andilly).
ASTERISM.—One or more asterisks or stars used as a name, as S*** ****** ****** D.C.L. (Experiences of a Barrister. Lond., 1856).
AUTONYM (Autonymous).—Book published with the author’s real name.
BOUSTROPHEDON (—YM—ISM).—The real name written backwards, as John Dralloc (Collard).[4]
CRONOGRAM.—Where the date is expressed by letters. In Lowndes’ Bib. Man. 1843, this is improperly spelled “cronogam,” repeated in the last edition. See Tisdale, R.
CRYPTONYM (Cryptonymous).—Hidden, subterfuge. Applied to authors who disguise or alter their names; but more particularly to those who disguise it by transposing the letters so as to form another name, which is the anagram of the real name.
DEMONYM.—Popular or ordinary qualification or description taken as a proper name, as an Amateur, a Bibliophile.
ENIGMATIC-PSEUDONYM.—As (Bibliothèque Bibliophilo-Facétieuse, éditée par) les frères Gébéodé, (i.e., Gustave Brunet and Octave Delpierre,) thus: G[ustave,] é b[runet]é, o[ctave,] d[elpierre]e.[5]
GEONYM.—Name of Country, Town, or Village, as an Englishman, (frequently used) a Londoner, de Gembloux (Pierguin).
HAGIONYM.—The name of a Saint taken as a proper name.
HIERONYM.—Sacred name used as a proper name.
INITIALISM.—Only the initials of the real author, as R. B. (Brathwaite), T. B. (Brewer).[6] S. E. B. (Sir E. Bridges).
IRONYM.—Ironical name, as Satyricon (Blondet, D.M.)
PHARMACONYM.—The name of a substance or material taken for a proper name, as Trognon de chou (cabbage-stump), i.e., Barre, dessinateur de Lille.
PHRASEONYM.—A phrase used instead of a proper name, as Ecrlinf (écrasons l’infâme), a Gentleman of great learning and understanding.
PHRENONYM.—Moral quality taken for a proper name, as John Search (Archbishop Whately and others have used this phrenonym), Benedick Whipem,[7] Alethenos (Hardinge Furenzo Ivres).[8] This kind of pseudonym is very popular, as Justitia, etc., etc.
POLYNYM.—Work by several authors.
PRENONYM.—Name taking the place of the family name.
PSEUDANDRY.—Woman signing a man’s name: as, Bob Short (A. L. Barbauld), John Search (Miss Austin).
PSEUDO-INITIALISM.—False initials, or not the initials of the author’s name.
PSEUDOJYN.—Man signing a woman’s name, as Clara Gazul (P. Mérimée), Sarah Search (F. Nolan).
PSEUDO-TITLONYM.—False quality or title, as a Lincolnshire Grazier (T. H. Horne).
SCENONYM.—Theatrical name of author or actor, as Edmund Falconer, (O’Rourke).
SIDERONYM.—Celestial or astronomical name.
STIGMONYM.—Dots instead of name.
SYNCOPISM.—Name deprived of several letters.
TELONISM.—The terminal letters of the real name, as N. S. (John Anstis).
TITLONYM.—Quality or title taken instead of a proper name, as an Academicien, a Barrister, a Member of Parliament, Saint-Cyran, (l’abbé de), J. Daverger (de Hauranne, abbé de.)
TRANSLATIONYM.—A translation of the real name, as Books Nabonag, (“Books” is a translation, and “Nabonag” an anagram; i.e., Le comte Georges Libri Bagnano.) G. Forrest (Rev. J. G. Wood), Theodore de la Garde (Nathaniel Ward. See Notes and Queries, 3 S., xi., 237).
FOOTNOTES:
[1] We have been frequently obliged to give instances of French names, not that there is a paucity of English ones, but they did not come to mind. All the French names will be found in the Supercheries, where one or two other words are used besides those given in this list.
[2] A gross imposition; S. G. Goodrich having had nothing to do with this, and fifty others published under his pseudonym of Peter Parley.
[3] Il est permis de changer une lettre, pourvu que l’anagramme soit heureuse; car au fond, c’est un pauvre métier. Namure Man. du Bibliothécaire. 1834, 8ᵛᵒ; p. 76.
[4] The length of this word—frequently used by Quérard—we think a great drawback to its adoption, we much prefer “Ananym.” Any name will be better than a phrase which has hitherto been the only method English bibliographers have described this kind of pseudonym by.
[5] London, 1852, sm. 8ᵛᵒ; xii, 116, only 60 copies printed for sale.
[6] Both wrote under their initials, a very common practice in earlier times. Mr. Hazlitt in his Hand-book, 1867, does not give cross references from either of these, perhaps he considered them sufficiently known.
[7] “New Nobility,” a novel. 1867.
[8] “The Audibleness of Thought Demonstrated, and its use explained.” 2 edit. By Alethinos. Lond.: J. Paul, 1866. 12mo.