148. Preserve the order of words of the title.
Short will depart from the order whenever it can not otherwise abridge the title; Medium and Full will do the same, but they will bracket all words introduced out of their original place as much as if they did not occur in the title at all.
149. When the title-page begins with the indication of the series to which the book belongs, followed by the title of the book, transpose the series name to a parenthesis after the imprint, including the number in the series, when the series is numbered.
Ex. American commonwealths. Virginia; a history of the people, by John Esten Cooke, would be entered Cooke, J: E. Virginia; a history of the people. Boston, 1883. D. (Amer, commonwealths.)
150. The more careful and student-like the probable use of the library the fuller the title should be,—fuller, that is, of information, not of words. Many a title a yard long does not convey as much meaning as two well-chosen words. No precise rule can be given for abridgment. The title must not be so much shortened that the book shall be confounded with any other book of the same author or any other edition of the same book, or that it shall fail to be recognized by those who know it or have been referred to it by title, or that it shall convey a false or insufficient idea of the nature of the work and (under the subject) of its theme and its {68} method of treating its theme. [49] On the other hand, it must not retain anything which could reasonably be inferred from the rest of the title or from its position under a given heading. [50]
[49] This clause must be very differently interpreted according to the character of the catalogue. It expresses rather the object to be aimed at than the point which an ordinary catalogue can expect to reach. To fully describe and characterize every book is impossible for most cataloguers. Still by a little management much may be briefly done. The words drama, play, novel, historical novel, poem, retained from or inserted in the title tell a great deal in a little space.
[50] It must make these omissions not merely that the catalogue may be short but that consulting it may be easy. Other things being equal, that title is best which can be taken in at a glance. What has been said in defence of full titles may be true, that “it takes longer to abridge a title than to copy it in full,” but it is also true that it takes longer for the printer to set the unabridged title, and longer for the reader to ascertain its meaning, and a long-title catalogue, besides being more expensive, is more bulky and therefore less convenient.
151. Omit the preliminary article when it can be done without altering the sense or too much offending the ear.
It will not do even for Short to catalogue “On the true, the beautiful, and the good” thus:
Cousin, V. True, beautiful, good;
but a list of Buckstone’s plays may as well be printed
— Breach of promise, comedy.
— Christening, farce.
— Dead shot, farce.
— Dream at sea.
— Kiss in the dark, farce.
— Lesson for ladies, com.,
though the meaning of “Christening” and “The christening” is slightly different, and “Kiss in the dark” might be taken for an injunction, whereas “A kiss in the dark” is evidently only a title. Still neither Short nor Medium should hesitate to omit even in these cases. Besides the economy, the alphabetical order is brought out more clearly by this omission. That can also be done awkwardly by transposing the article; as,
— Breach of promise, The; com.
— Christening, The; farce.
— Dead shot, The; farce.
— Dream at sea, The.
152. Short omits articles in the title.
Ex. “Observations upon an alteration of the charter of the Bank of England” is abridged: “Alteration of charter of Bank of England,” which is certainly not euphonious, but is as intelligible as if it were. Medium usually indulges in the luxury of good English. Perhaps in time a catalogue style will be adopted in which these elisions shall be not merely allowed, but required. It may be possible to increase the number of cataloguing signs. We have now 8º where we once had octavo, then 8vo. Why not insist upon N. Y. for New York, L. for London, P. for Paris, etc., as a few adventurous libraries have done? Why not make free substitution of commas for words, and leave out articles and prepositions in titles wherever the sense will still remain gleanable?
153. Omit puffs [51] and many descriptive words which are implied either by the rest of the title [52] or by the custom of books of the class {69} under treatment, [53] and those descriptive phrases which, though they add to the significance of the title, do not give enough information to pay for their retention. [54]
[51] Ex. A (plain) treatise on; an (exact and full) account.
[52] In “Compendious pocket dictionary,” either compendious or pocket is superfluous.
[53] Ex. Nekrolog, 1790–1800 (enthaltend Nachrichten von dem Leben merkwürdiger in diesem Jahre verstorbener Personen).
[54] “by an American not by birth but by the love of liberty.”
153½. Omit all other unnecessary words.
In the following examples I use the double (( )) to indicate what every catalogue ought to omit, the single ( ) to indicate what may well be omitted.
Ed. alt. (priore emendatior).
2e éd. (augmentée).
2d ed. (with additions and improvements).
with ((an appendix containing)) problems.
((a collection of)) papers relating to the war in India.
((a series of)) letters.
((On the)) brick architecture of the north of Italy.
(debate) on ((the subject of)) the impressment bill.
on ((the question of)) a financial agent.
((being some)) account of his travels.
in ((the year)) 1875.
Sermons ((on various subjects)). N. B. Must occasionally be retained to distinguish different collections of sermons by the same author.
The grounds of infant damnation ((considered in)) (a) sermon ((preached)) Nov. 5, (1717). Boston, 1717. O.
Sermon (the Lord’s day after the) interment of.
Opera ((quæ extant)) (omnia).
Geology ((of the State)) of Maine.
Tables for ((the use of)) civil engineers.
Reflections ((suggested by a perusal of)) [55] J. H. Palmer’s ((pamphlet on the)) “Causes (and consequences) of the war.”
Occasioned by his ((book entitled)) “True narrative.”
defended against ((the cavils of)) G. Martin.
Howe during his command (of the King’s troops) in North America.
So a “Discourse in Albany, Feb. 27, 1848, occasioned by the death of John Quincy Adams, etc. Albany, 1848. O.,” would become Disc., Albany, Feb. 27, death of J. Q. Adams. Albany, 1848. O., in Medium; and Short would probably omit “Albany, Feb. 27.”
[55] Substitute [on].
154. For chronological phrases use dates.
Ex. For “from the accession of Edward III. to the death of Henry VIII.,” say [1327–1547].
155. In Short and Medium use initials for all Christian names introduced in titles, notes, and contents, and omit the initials altogether for famous men unless there are two of the same name.
Ex. Write “Life of L. V. Bell,” “ed. by F. J. Furnivall,” but “Lives of Cicero, Milton, Tell, Washington;” and distinguish by initials the Bachs, Grimms, Humboldts, Schlegels. Short may as well omit the initials of editors, translators, etc.
E. g.
Dante. Divine comedy; tr. by Cayley. London, 1851–54. 4 v. S.
— Same. Tr. by Wright. London, Bohn, 1854. O.
— Same. Tr. by Longfellow. Boston, 1867. 3 v. O. {70}
156. Abbreviate certain common words always, and less common words in a long title which can not be shortened in any other way.
Abbreviations should suggest the word for which they are used, and should not, if it can be avoided, suggest any other. When one abbreviation is used for two words, if the context does not determine the sense the abbreviation must be lengthened. The most common and useful are Abp. (Archbishop), a. d. Lat. (aus dem Lateinischen), add. (additions), Amer. or Am. (American), anon. (anonymous), app. (appendix), Aufl., Ausg., or even A. (Auflage, Ausgabe), bibl. (biblical, bibliographical, bibliotheca, etc.), biog. (biographical, biography), Bp. (Bishop), B. S. L., etc. (Bohn’s scientific library, etc.), Chr. (Christian), class. (classical), col. or coll. (collections, college), com. (commerce, committee), comp. (compiled, compiler), conc. (concerning), dept. (department), dom. (domestic), ed. (edited, edition, editor), encyc. (encyclopædia), ff. (folios or leaves), geog., geol., geom. (geology, geography, geometry), ges. (gesammelte), Ges. or Gesch. (Geschichte), Gr. (Great, Greek), H. F. L. (Harper’s family library), hrsg. (herausgegeben), imp. (imperfect), incl. (including), int. (intorno), lib. (library), mem. (memoir), mis. or miscel. (miscellaneous), nat. (natural), n. d. (no date of publication), n. p. (no place), n. s. (new series), n. t.-p. (no title-page), nouv. (nouvelle), obl. (oblong), p. pp. (page, pages), pseud. (pseudonym, pseudonymous), pt. (part), pub. (published), rec. (recensuit), rel. (relating, relative), rept. (report), rev. (review, revised), s. or ser. (series), sämm. (sämmtlich), sm. (small), soc. (society), t.-p. mut., t.-p. w. (title-page mutilated, wanting), tr. (translated, traduit, tradotto, etc.), trans. (transactions), u. (und), übers. (übersetzt), v. (volume), v. (von, but give van in full), w. (wanting). For others see Appendix V., pp. 119–126.
157. Express numbers by Arabic figures instead of words.
Ex. With 30,000 (not thirty thousand) men; but Charles II., in place of King Charles the Second.
158. In Short omit all that can be expressed by position.
Ex. In a title-entry
and in a subject-entry
If this is thought too disagreeable, use an initial for the heading when it is repeated in the title; as:
159. In cataloguing different editions of a book avoid the repetition of the title by using “Same.”
Ex.
Chaucer, G. Canterbury tales; [ed.] by T. Tyrwhitt. London, 1822. 5 v. 8º.
— Same. Ed. by T. Wright. London, 1847–51. 3 v. 8º.
The word following Same should generally begin with a capital.
160. Retain under the author only what is necessary to distinguish the work from other works of the same writer, but under the subject what is needed to state the subject and show how it is treated.
The preface of an excellent catalogue remarks that “the primary object of subject-entries is to inform the reader who have written upon a given topic rather than what has been written.” This is a mistake. The inquirer wishes to know both; in fact he wants to know who have written about it because their character will suggest to him what they have written. {71}
161. Retain both of alternative titles.
Ex. Knights and sea-kings; or, The Middle Ages.
The reason is that the book may be referred to by either title.
162. Retain in the author entry the first words of the title; let the abridgement be made farther on.
Because (1) it facilitates library work, by rendering the identification of the book quicker and surer; (2) if there is no part of the title which must be given, two persons may abridge so differently that not a single word shall be the same in the two abridged titles, so that two works will be made out of one (I have often known this to happen); (3) books are frequently referred to by the first word of the title (Grassi’s “Notizie sullo stato presente degli Stati Uniti” may be quoted as Grassi: Notizie). Short, however, can probably not afford to retain first words in all cases. Half the phrases used at the beginning of titles add little or nothing to the meaning, such as “Treatise on,” “System of,” “Series of lectures on,” “Practical hints on the quantitative pronunciation of Latin” (here “Practical hints” belongs in the preface, not in the title, to which it really adds nothing whatever). “History of” must often be retained under the subject. One can say
YOUNG, Sir W. Athens. 3d ed. London, 1804;
but under Athens that would not be enough; it would be necessary to write
YOUNG, Sir W. History of Athens,
to distinguish it from such works as Stuart’s “Antiquities of Athens,” and Leake’s “Topography of Athens.” But if there are enough titles under Athens to admit of the subheadings Art, Antiquities, History, the words “History of” again become unnecessary. Medium ought always to retain first words under author, and may omit them under subject; but such phrases as “Manual of,” “Lectures on,” do much to explain the character of the book, and for that reason ought often to be retained.
Mottoes, however, at the top of the title-page (often separated by a line from the real title) may be neglected. Sometimes such superscriptions are important, generally not.
When the author’s name alone or his name and titles are first on the title-page, as is frequently the case in old Latin and modern French books, omit them. Example: Jani Jacobi Boissardi Vesuntini de divinatione.
A custom has grown up of late, particularly in French publications, of putting at the top of the title-page, before the title proper, the name of the series to which the work belongs or else what might be called the classification of the book. The name of the series should be given in parentheses after the imprint. The cataloguer may retain or omit the classification at his discretion. To avoid all possibility of mistake Full will mark the omission of these words by ...
163. Do not by abridgment render the words retained false or meaningless or ungrammatical.
164. In analyticals, if there are several entries under the author referred to, give the first word or words of the title referred to, so that the entry can easily be found; if there are few entries take one or two words which unmistakably identify the book.
A word or two is enough [56] and those abbreviated if possible; [57] but sometimes, when the article has an insufficient or no title it is well to give more of the title of the book in which it is contained, if that is more communicative; e. g., Wordsworth, J. Grammatical introduction. (In his Fragments of early Latin. 1874.), where “of early Latin” explains “grammatical introduction.” The date should always be given to show in what edition of the work the passage is contained and also to what period the ideas belong. Giving the pages facilitates reference. {72}
[56] (In Mueller, F. M. Chips, v. 1. 1867.) not (In Mueller, F. M. Chips from a German workshop, v. 1. 1867.)
[57] (In Grævius. Thes. Rom. antiq., v. 10. 1699.)
165. The title is to be copied, so far as it is copied, exactly. Omissions may be made without giving notice to the reader, unless by etc. when the sentence is manifestly unfinished. [58] Additions made to a title are to be marked by inclosing the words in brackets [ ]. [59] All additions to be in the same language as the title; if this can not be done, put the addition into a note. [60] After a word spelled wrongly or unusually insert [sic]. [61]
[58] The use of ... is suited only to bibliographies. I do not see why even Full should use this sign, except for very rare or typographically-important books. The title in a catalogue is not intended to be a substitute for the book itself and must leave some questions to be answered by the latter. But if the ... are used they should be printed as a group, separated from the word or punctuation mark which they follow or precede by a slight space, as . ... or ... .
[59] The use of [ ] is important, both as a check on indiscriminate addition and as an aid to identification. It will not often be of use in the latter respect, but as one can never tell when it will be needed it must be employed always.
[60] The intercalation of English words in a foreign title is extremely awkward.
[61] Ex. The beginning end [sic] end of drinking.
166. If the title-page is lost and the title can not be ascertained, use the half-title or the running title, stating that fact; if the book has neither, manufacture a title, putting it in brackets.
167. State in what language the book is written unless it is evident from the title.
Ex.
Aelianus. De natura animalium [Gr. et Lat.].
Aeschines. Orations on the crown [Gr.], with Eng. notes.
168. Retain in or add to the title of a translation words stating from what language it was made, unless that is evident from the author’s name or is shown by its position after the original title.
Ex.
Beckford, Wm. Vathek; [tr. fr. the French].
Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim. Laocoon; tr. by E. Frothingham.
Euripides. Ἱππόλυτος στεφανηφόρος.
— Eng. The crowned Hippolytus; tr. by M. P. Fitz-Gerald.
169. In the entry of translations after the original give the translated title, preceded by the name of the language of the version.
This is for the good of persons unacquainted with the original language, who would not know the book by the foreign title, and also to identify the book, different translations not always having the same title.
Sand, George. Le château des désertes.
— Eng. The castle in the wilderness.
— L’homme de neige.
— Eng. The snow man.
Dante. Divina commedia.
— Eng. Vision of hell, purgatory, and paradise; tr. by Cary.
— – Divine comedy; tr. by Cayley.
170. In anonymous titles entered under the first word put the transposed article after the first phrase.
Ex. Ame en peine, Une, not Ame, Une, en peine. {73}
171. Under the author distinguish the titles of anonymous books.
Enclosing the dash in brackets is ugly [ — ]; enclosing the title in brackets is misleading, as if the title were false. Stars (*) or daggers (†) are sometimes prefixed to the title, but they are often used for other purposes and they throw the titles out of line. [Anon.] may be used between the title and the imprint; † in the same position would take less room and as soon as accepted would be equally intelligible; it has occasionally been used.
172. In the preliminary card catalogue enclose in brackets the name of the author of an anonymous or pseudonymous work. This may be extended to cases where the name is only implied.
Ex. “By the Bishop of Ripon,” “M. Tullii oratio;” meaning M. Tullii Ciceronis oratio, or Cat. used in old editions for Catullus.
173. In the title-entry of an anonymous work insert the author’s name in brackets.
Ex. Colloquies of Edw. Osborne; [by M. A. Manning]. London, 1860. S.
174. Words like Lord, Gen., Rev., King, ed., tr., occurring in the title are not to be italicized.
175. When the title is in an alphabet which differs from the English, transliterate the first few words and add a translation.
Ex. [Pisni Russkaho naroda; Songs of the Russian people.]
When the title is in Greek, followed by a Latin translation, it is customary to use the latter alone, and the same may be done in the case of other languages. But for identification it is necessary that some part of the book’s own title should be printed. It is not enough to give merely a made title or a translation.