THE PRINCIPAL ENTRY.--CORPORATE AND OTHER FORMS.--EDITORS AND TRANSLATORS.
=69.=--In cataloguing the transactions, memoirs, proceedings and other
publications of the learned societies, the societies in their corporate
capacity are regarded as the authors and so treated, the principal entry
being placed under the first word of their names not an article, provided
they are societies of a national or general character, as
Royal Society of London.
Library Association.
Linnean Society.
Royal Geographical Society.
Society of Antiquaries.
Societies of a strictly local character are to be entered under the name
of the place of meeting or publication, as for example the publications
of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle-on-Tyne are not
entered under “Literary,” but
Newcastle-on-Tyne Literary and Philosophical Society,
such an entry of course being kept quite apart from the subject-heading
Newcastle-on-Tyne.
There are antiquarian and other societies whose work covers a much larger
area than the particular locality in which they hold meetings or their
offices happen to be situated, and they could not be fitly entered under
the name of the place. For instance, the publications of the Historic
Society of Lancashire and Cheshire emanate from Liverpool, but the place
of meeting or publication might be changed to Manchester or Chester
without in any way affecting the nature or scope of the Society’s work.
Therefore the entry in such a case should not be under Liverpool or even
“Historic,” but
Lancashire and Cheshire, Historic Society of.
Almost similar are the publishing societies dealing with a limited area,
as the Chetham and Surtees Societies, but the specially distinctive
name settles the matter, and the entries would accordingly be under
those names. Societies of this class, however, are simply the publishers
of collections of books, and so, in addition to the entries under the
societies’ names, each book must have a separate author-entry. The
entries would be after this manner:--
Navy Records Society, Publications of the. v. 1-9. la. 8o. 1894-7
v. 9 The journal of Sir George Rooke, Admiral of the Fleet,
1700-2; ed. by Oscar Browning.
(The first eight volumes would be set out in the same way in their place
as are the contents of collected works).
ROOKE, Sir George, _Admiral of the Fleet_.
Journal, 1700-2; ed. by Oscar Browning. (_Navy Records Soc._,
v. 9.) 1897
It would be within the scope of most catalogues to separately enter
under authors and subjects any exceptionally important monographs
published with or supplementary to, the transactions of scientific or
other societies, but to go further than this and to catalogue in this
way each separate contribution to such transactions opens up so vast
a field of work that it need not be attempted. Special libraries used
only by special classes of the community will have to settle the length
to which they can go in this direction according to their several
requirements and the means at their disposal. Something towards this
end of making available the contents of transactions, proceedings,
and the like has been accomplished in the _Royal Society’s Catalogue
of Scientific Papers_, but there is infinitely more yet to be done and
the majority of libraries will choose to wait for the promised great
_International Catalogue of Scientific Literature_ rather than attempt
to index the contents of whatever transactions they happen to possess in
their libraries, though this great catalogue has up to the present got no
further than the conference-and-dinner stage of compilation.
The publications of foreign societies are usually entered under the names
of the countries if of national importance, or places where they meet
if of local importance, unless they have a specially distinctive title.
Government publications are entered under the names of the countries or
places, as
France. Chambre des Députés.
Paris. Prefecture de la Seine.
United States Bureau of Education.
The publications of the home government cannot be grouped under one head
or title in this way, and must be distributed under the names of the
various departments as Board of Trade, Local Government Board, Historical
Manuscripts Commission, Charity Commission, &c.
The reports of Church Councils and official publications of religious
denominations occasionally call for some consideration. Important
ecclesiastical councils as the Council of Trent or the Westminster
Assembly of Divines are entered under the names of the places of meeting,
but in the case of denominational assemblies where the place of meeting
is a mere incident, the entry is to be made under the name of the
denomination, and not the place of meeting. Examples of such publications
are
Official report of the Church Congress, Cardiff, 1889.
Report of proceedings of the Presbyterian Alliance held in
Philadelphia, 1880.
Minutes of proceedings of the yearly meeting of Friends held in
London, 1896.
and the form of entry is
Church of England. Official report of the Church Congress,
Cardiff, 1889.
Presbyterian Alliance. Report of proceedings, Philadelphia, 1880.
Friends, Society of. Minutes of proceedings of the yearly
meeting, London, 1896.
In the same way reports or publications of particular societies meeting
in annual or occasional congress as Freemasons, Good Templars, Trades
Unions, or professional associations are entered under the names of the
societies irrespective of the places of meetings.
=70.=--There is still one form of principal entry to be considered, and
that is when there is no author, editor, or compiler whose name can be
used and a title-entry becomes a principal entry. The commonest form is
that of newspapers, magazines, and periodicals. These are invariably
entered under the first word of the title not an article, and never under
the editor’s name. The first and last volumes of the series contained in
the library with the earliest and latest dates (_i.e._ years) are given,
as
Chambers’s Journal, v. 1-20. la. 8o. 1854-64
Strand Magazine. Illus. v. 1-14. la. 8o. 1891-7
Times, The. 47 v. la. fo. 1881-91
If the series is incomplete then the volumes wanting must be shown by the
entry, as
Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal. New ser., v. 9-15, 17, 19-20. la.
8o. 1848-54
this showing that volumes 1 to 8, 16, and 18 are not in the library.
=71.=--Another form of principal title-entry is that for the sacred
books, especially for the Bible in its various editions and translations.
It is customary to enter all editions in all languages of the complete
scriptures, or of portions of them, under the word “Bible,” arranging the
entries in this order in the first place--
1 Old and New Testament (whether inclusive of the Apocrypha or
not).
2 Old Testament only.
3 Parts of Old Testament.
4 New Testament.
5 Parts of New Testament.
Each of these divisions are then arranged according to language, and each
of the languages again chronologically according to the edition. When
a library contains a fair collection of versions and editions of the
scriptures it is as well to keep to the rule to place those first which
are in the original languages, but in the average English library it will
be found most convenient to lead off with the English versions, followed
by those in the original texts, and afterwards with those in modern
languages other than English. The entries would be after the following
style, but with such distinctive bibliographical particulars as may be
desirable according to the importance and interest of the collection.
BIBLE, THE
_Old and New Testaments._
_English._ The Bible in Englishe according to the translation
of the great Byble. 1561
⸻ The parallel Bible. The Holy Bible: being the Authorised
Version arranged in parallel columns with the Revised
Version. 1885
_French._ La sainte Bible. Ed. Ostervald. 1890
_Old Testament._
_Greek._ The Septuagint version of the Old Testament; with an
English translation, notes, &c. n.d.
This arrangement and sub-division is only applicable to the text, and
then only if the edition is simply a version or translation and is not
accompanied by a commentary. Commentaries are treated as any other
original work would be and entered under the author’s name, unless they
happened to be of a collective character, as _The Cambridge Bible for
schools and colleges_; ed. by Perowne, when the principal-entry would
be under “Bible” (_Subject_ sub-division “Commentaries”) preferably to
“Cambridge Bible,” with the contents of each volume of the series set
out, not alphabetically, but in the order of the books of the Bible, as
BIBLE, THE:
_Commentaries._
Cambridge Bible for schools and colleges; ed. by Perowne.
_Old Testament._
Joshua, by G. F. Maclear. 1887
Judges, by J. J. Lias. 1886
Ezra and Nehemiah, by H. E. Ryle. 1893
A cross-reference would be necessary from
Cambridge Bible for schools, &c. _See_ Bible (Commentaries)
and, if it were deemed desirable, references could be given from the
editors’ names in this form
Maclear, G. F. _See_ Bible (Cambridge Bible).
=72.=--Sometimes the commentaries in a series are of sufficient
importance, or of such a character, that each is virtually a book
quite apart from its place as one of the series. The volumes of the
_Expositor’s Bible_, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll, are of this class,
and, while they should in the first place be dealt with as shown in the
_Cambridge Bible_ above, yet a mere reference under the author’s names
hardly suffices--they are not merely editors as in the _Cambridge Bible_
series--therefore, besides this principal-entry under Bible, entries are
required, as
Farrar, F. W., _Dean_. The first Book of Kings. (_Expositor’s
Bible_). 1893
⸻ The second Book of Kings. (_Expositor’s Bible_). 1894
⸻ The Book of Daniel. (_Expositor’s Bible_). 1895
or in a style more concise
Farrar, F. W., _Dean_. Expositor’s Bible:
I. and II. Kings. 2 v. 1893-4
Daniel. 1895
Though coming more correctly under the remarks on subject-headings it may
be here noted in passing that commentaries in a series are regarded as a
single book and not entered separately under the name of each book of the
Bible throughout the catalogue, therefore the above items would not have
entries under “Kings” or “Daniel.” If, however, Dean Farrar had written
a separate work dealing with the Book of Daniel, it should be entered
under “Daniel,” and not under “Bible.” So commentaries, or any other
works upon the whole Bible, like the entire series of the Expositor’s
Bible, go under “Bible,” but if the commentaries deal with the Old or New
Testament, or any particular book of the Bible separately, such works
are placed under the headings of “Old Testament,” “New Testament,” or
under the name of the particular book dealt with, as the case may be,
and not under the heading “Bible,” as in the case of the text alone, or
any portion of it. There are exceptions even to this rule with regard
to translations, if special, and more particularly if accompanied by an
exposition, as in a case like
JOWETT, Benjamin. The epistles of St. Paul to the Thessalonians,
Galatians, and Romans. 3rd ed., ed. and condensed by Lewis
Campbell. 2 v. 1894
v. 1, Translation and commentary.
v. 2, Essays and dissertations.
This work would not be put under “Bible” as its subject, but would be
entered either under “Paul, St.” (where all books upon his Epistles, not
part of a general commentary or including any other parts of the Bible,
might very well be grouped), or under the names of the churches to which
the Epistles were addressed, as
Thessalonians, St. Paul’s Epistles to the.
In either case a cross-reference would be needed under the heading
“Bible,” sub-division “Commentaries,” thus:
Bible.
_Commentaries._
_See also_ Paul, St.
or
_See also_ Thessalonians.
=73.=--The extent to which editors and translators are to be noticed in
cataloguing is a very important one, but it also depends largely upon
the requirements of the case. It should be taken for granted in large
reference libraries intended principally for use by scholars that every
name appearing upon a title-page, whether as author, editor, translator,
compiler, or adapter, would be noticed and receive an entry, either
in full or by way of cross-reference. But for an average library, and
particularly lending libraries, it would be waste of energy and of space
to adopt this system and fully carry it out. Thus, a work like
Easy selections adapted from Xenophon; with a vocabulary, notes,
and a map, by J. Surtees Phillpotts and C. S. Jerram.
would in the former case have references from Phillpotts and Jerram to
Xenophon, under which the principal entry should appear. But in most
cases a single entry will be found ample, as
XENOPHON. Easy selections; adapted, &c. by Phillpotts and Jerram.
On the other hand, there are famous translations or editions that should
have in every case entries under the translator’s or editor’s name, as
Chapman, George. Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey.
Jowett, Benjamin. The Republic of Plato.
These are instances where two principal entries might be given with
advantage, firstly under “Homer” and “Plato,” and secondly under
“Chapman” and “Jowett,” as above.
Almost in the same category come those books which have been revised and
enlarged by an editor to such an extent as to leave but little of the
original author’s work. Sometimes the revision and additions may not be
so extensive, but still be important enough to command a separate entry
under the reviser’s name. Examples of these are
PRESCOTT, Wm. H. History of the reign of the Emperor Charles V.,
by Wm. Robertson, extended by W. H. P.
TILDEN, Wm. A. Watts’ Manual of chemistry. v. 2, Organic
chemistry. 2nd ed. 1886
these entries being in addition to those under “Robertson” and “Watts.”
=74.=--It occasionally occurs that a prefatory essay or biographical or
critical introduction to a book is of so much value as to be worth a
separate entry, as
COURTHORPE, Wm. J. Life of Alexander Pope. (Pope’s Works, v. 5.)
1889
The careful cataloguer will rarely overlook these important points,
though it too often happens that sets of books are lumped into a
catalogue without the least attention to details of this kind, leaving it
incomplete and so making the library less useful.