Albert, Mary. Holland and her heroes. 1878
Adapted from Motley's "Dutch Republic."
Ball (Sir Robert S.) Elements of astronomy. 1886. ill.
Knowledge of mathematics required for the study of this book.
Ball, (William P.) Are the effects of use and disuse inherited? 1890. Nature series.
Note.-The author taken a negative view and attempts to prove that no improvement in mankind can take place without the aid of natural or artificial selection.
Boccaccio, Giovanni. Il decamerone; nuovamente correto et con diligentia stampato. pp. xii, 568. 8o. Firenze, 1527 [Venice, 1729.]
This is the counterfeit of the Giunta or "Ventisetana" Decameron of 1527.
Dupont-Auberville, M. Art industrial: L'ornement des tissus. 1877
Coloured designs suitable for all purposes taken from textile fabrics.
Mariette, A. E., called Mariette-Bey. Outlines of ancient Egyptian history. 1890
The best brief manual.
Persia.
Morier, J. Hajji Baba. 1895
Remains yet a standard book upon Persian life and manners.
In adding notes of this nature it is a wise plan to keep to statements of fact, and not indulge in expressions of opinion.
CHAPTER IV.
THE PRINCIPAL ENTRY.-THE AUTHOR ENTRY, 2.
Table of Contents 28.-Having laid down some of the general principles to be followed in making the author-entry in a complete form, we proceed to take further examples selected because they happen to be at hand and not for any difficulty they present. Any batch of ordinary books will contain some that are troublesome to the beginner in cataloguing, and for this reason nothing that can be regarded as of an out-of-the-way character has been taken in illustration.
The next book is:
Historic survey of German poetry, interspersed with various translations. By W. Taylor, of Norwich. London: Treuttel, &c.
The work is in three volumes, the first being dated 1828, the second 1829, and the third 1830. We ascertain by reference to a biographical dictionary, or other likely work, that the author's name is William, and as Wm. Taylor is a somewhat common name we retain the description "of Norwich," so that he may be distinguished from any other author of the same name. The author-entry then is:
Taylor, William (of Norwich).
Historic survey of German poetry, interspersed with various translations. 3 v. 8o. 1828-30
This book being in more than one volume a collation of each is not given, as the statement of the number of volumes is considered to give sufficient idea of its extent. If the work were illustrated this fact would still be stated, not usually as "3 v., illus." but "Illus. 3 v." or "illus. 3 v." It will be seen that the date of publication of each volume is not given but the first and last dates only. It is necessary to point out that the earliest and latest dates are not always those of the first and last volumes of a set, as it sometimes happens that they are not the first or last issued. Often enough the volumes of a set are made up of two or more editions with long intervals between the dates. In all cases the earliest and latest dates are to be given, and any peculiarities of the edition can be stated in the form of a note at the end of the entry.
Taking another book we find that the title-page reads:
Life of Ralph Waldo Emerson, by Richard Garnett, LL.D. London, Walter Scott, &c. 1888
and after an exhaustive examination the entry comes out as
Garnett, Richard.
Life of Ralph Waldo Emerson. (Great writers.) pp. 200, xiv. sm. 8o. 1888
With a bibliography by John P. Anderson.
29.-The desirability, or otherwise, of using initials instead of giving the Christian name in full in an author-entry depends largely upon the requirements of the library and the space taken up.
There seems to be a growing practice to search out from any available source all the names that an author was ever saddled with. The object of this for catalogues, other than those of great libraries of national importance, is not very obvious, and it should not concern the cataloguer why Dickens chose to be known as Charles simply instead of Charles John Huffam, or Du Maurier preferred to be called George rather than George Louis Palmela Busson, or even why Hall Caine has dropped the use of Thomas Henry from the fore part of his name. Yet these and other persons have appeared with all the names set out at length even in minor catalogues, and sometimes with the titles of the books cut down to the finest limit in order that the whole name might be got in. The spirit of infinite research is not always an advantage to the cataloguer.
30.-On the other hand, bare initials have a meagre appearance, and the middle course should be adopted even when expense is a consideration, as it adds very little to the cost of printing to give at least one name in full. It must be admitted that in many instances where there are two or more Christian names, the initials are distinctive enough for all reasonable purposes, as E. A. Abbott, A. K. H. Boyd, E. A. Freeman, and can be so used. Well-understood abbreviations, like Chas. Dickens, Geo. R. Sims, Robt. Browning, Thos. Carlyle, can also be used, but the gain is so trifling as not to be worth consideration. The first Christian name in use should be given in full, unless it happens that some other is better or specially known, as W. H. Davenport Adams, J. Percy Groves, J. Cotter Morison, R. Bosworth Smith.
31.-With the commoner surnames, as Smith, Brown, Jones, and the rest, there will be a number of authors who will have also the same Christian name, when particular care must be exercised not to mix the works together, and so attribute books to a wrong author. Some distinction must be given, like that shown in the "Taylor of Norwich" entry (p. 27), and these are better printed in italics. Examples of these, taken from a catalogue, are
Smith, John, A. L. S.
Smith, John, of Kilwinning.
Smith, John, of Malton.
Thomson, James (poet, 1700-48).
Thomson, James ("B. V.")
Thomson, James (Traveller).
When father and son with the same name are authors, and the difference between them appears in the book as "the elder," "jun.," "fils," "aîné," &c., it should be given at the time the entry is made, even though not then required for distinguishing purposes, the library only possessing the works of one or the other. Frequently such a distinction is not shown on the book, and the cataloguer must add it. Strange to say, entries like the following have been seen in catalogues:-
Frères, P. Modes et costumes historiques.
Nassau, W., sen. Journals kept in France and Italy.
The first book being by the Paquet frères, and the other by Nassau W. Senior.
32.-Biographical dictionaries of all kinds are useful to the cataloguer, but for making distinctions like those referred to above, and for general use, the most serviceable and handiest, because concise and comprehensive, is "The dictionary of biographical reference, containing one hundred thousand names," by Lawrence B. Phillips (Sampson Low, 1871.) There is a later edition of this work, but it is merely a reprint with no new matter. It should be superfluous to name the valuable and indispensable "Dictionary of national biography" for British names. Allibone's "Critical dictionary of English literature and British and American authors," with its supplement by Kirk, is an every-day book of reference for cataloguers. For German biography the "Allgemeine deutsche Biographie" (Leipzig, 1875-98), is the most important, and for French names the "Biographie universelle" (Paris, 1842-65) is very serviceable, as well as for names generally. It should be supplemented by Vapereau's "Dictionnaire des contemporains."
33.-The form for author-entry is clear and simple enough, and seems easy to put into practice, but difficulties soon arise, and the amount of knowledge the cataloguer possesses upon men in general and authors in particular will be early put to the test. The next book coming before us is
Vice versâ; or, a lesson to fathers. By F. Anstey. New and revised ed. London, Smith, Elder, &c., 1883.
The author's name in this instance is a pseudonym, and the mode of treating such names has given rise to differences of opinion, and consequently of practice. In many catalogues the real name of the author, when known, is taken for the author-entry, and a reference given from the pseudonym to it. This may be a good rule to follow in very special catalogues, but there is no doubt that it is against the convenience of the great majority of persons who use libraries; and therefore the best, because most convenient and useful, plan is to make the entry under the best known name, whether it be assumed or real. It has been often said, and with much truth, that it is not the business of librarians to discover the identity of an author by proving his use of an alias unless for some sufficient reason. It has become quite a mania with some cataloguers to hunt and pry until they find out whether a name is real or not, and their zeal in this direction sometimes misleads them, as witness the fact that "George Eliot" has been entered as Mrs. Lewes...
