1.—Every work should have one Index for the whole set and not an Index to each volume.
2.—Indexes to be arranged in Alphabetical Order:—proper names and subjects being united in one alphabet. An Introduction, containing some indication of the classification of the contents of the book indexed, to be prefixed.
3.—The entries to be arranged according to the order of the English Alphabet. I and J, and U and V, to be kept distinct.
4.—Headings consisting of two or more distinct words are not to be treated as integral portions of one word, thus the arrangement should be:—
| Grave, John, | not | Grave at Kherson. | ||
| Grave at Kherson | Grave, John. | |||
| Grave of Hope | Gravelot. | |||
| Grave Thoughts | Grave of Hope. | |||
| Gravelot | Gravesend. | |||
| Gravesend | Grave Thoughts. |
5.—Proper Names of foreigners to be alphabetically arranged under the prefixes:—
| Dal | as | Dal Sie. | ||
| Del | Del Rio. | |||
| Della | Della Casa. | |||
| Des | Des Cloiseaux. | |||
| Du | Du Bois. | |||
| La | La Condamine. | |||
| Le | Le Sage. |
but not under the prefixes:—
| D’ | as | Abbadie | not | D’Abbadie. |
| Da | ” | Silva | ” | Da Silva. |
| De | ” | La Place | ” | De La Place. |
| Von | ” | Humboldt | ” | Von Humboldt. |
| Van | ” | Beneden | ” | Van Beneden. |
It is an acknowledged principle that when the prefix is a preposition it is to be rejected, but when an article it is to be retained. When, however, as in the case of the French Du, Des, the two are joined, it is necessary to retain the preposition. This also applies to the case of the Italian Della, which is often rejected by cataloguers. English Names are, however, to be arranged under the prefixes
| De Dela Van |
as | De Quincey. Delabeche. Van Mildert. |
because these prefixes are meaningless in English and form an integral part of the name.
6.—Proper Names, with the prefix St., as St. Albans, St. John, to be arranged in the alphabet as if written in full Saint. When the word Saint represents a ceremonial title as in the case of St. Alban, St. Giles, and St. Augustine, these names to be arranged under the letters A and G respectively; but the places St. Albans, St. Giles’s, and St. Augustines will be found under the prefix Saint. The prefixes M‘ and Mc to be arranged as if written in full Mac.
7.—Peers to be arranged under their titles, by which alone in most cases they are known, and not under their family names, except in such a case as Horace Walpole, who is almost unknown by his title of Earl of Orford, which came to him late in life. Bishops, Deans, etc., to be always under their family names.
8.—Foreign compound names to be arranged under the first name, as Lacaze Duthiers, English compound names under the last, except in such cases as Royston-Pigott, where the first name is a true surname. The first name in a foreign compound is, as a rule, the surname, but the first name in an English compound is usually a mere Christian name.
9.—An Adjective frequently to be preferred to a substantive as a catchword, for instance, when it contains the point of the compounds, as Alimentary Canal, English History. Also when the compound forms a distinctive name, as Soane Museum.
10.—The entries to be as short as is consistent with intelligibility, but the insertion of names without specification of the cause of reference to be avoided, except in particular cases. The extent of the references, when more than one page, to be marked by giving the first and last pages.
11.—Short entries to be repeated under such headings as are likely to be required, in place of a too frequent use of cross references. These references, however, to be made from cognate headings, as Cerebral to Brain and vice versa, where the subject matter is different.
12.—In the case of Journals and Transactions brief abstracts of the contents of the several articles or papers to be drawn up and arranged in the alphabetical index under the heading of the article.
13.—Authorities quoted or referred to in a book to be indexed under each author’s name, the titles of his works being separately set out, and the word ‘quoted’ added in italics.
14.—When the indexed page is large, or contains long lists of names, it is to be divided into four sections, referred to respectively as a, b, c, d; thus if a page contains 64 lines, 1-16 will be a, 17-32 b, 33-48 c, 49-64 d. If in double columns, the page is still to be divided into four: a and b forming the upper and lower halves of the first column, and c and d the upper and lower halves of the second column.
15.—When a work is in more than one volume, the number of the volume is to be specified by small Roman numerals. In the case of long sets, such as the Gentleman’s Magazine, a special Arabic numeral for indicating the volume distinct from the page numeral may be employed with advantage.
16.—Entries which refer to complete chapters or distinct papers, to be printed in small capitals.
17.—Headings to be printed in a marked type. A dash, instead of indentation, to be used as a mark of repetition. The dash to be kept for entries exactly similar, and the word to be repeated when the second differs in any way from the first. The proper name to be repeated when that of a different person. In the case of joint authors, the Christian names or initials of the first, whose surname is arranged in the alphabet, to be in parentheses, but the Christian names of the second to be in the natural order, as Smith (John) and Alexander Brown, not Smith (John) and Brown (Alexander).
The above rules do not apply to Subject Indexes, and in certain cases may need modification in accordance with the special character of the work to be indexed. In all cases specimens of the index must be seen by the Committee before it is finally put in hand.