New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-01-29
TITLES or BOOKS.
From The Spectator.


Few outside the circle of authors and publishers
have any idea of the trouble involved IN choosing
titles tor new books The factors that combine TO
make mn a GOOD title are many, and some Of them,
perhaps more far FETCHED and complicated than
may at first sight appear. To begin with, titles arc
copyrighted, and, therefore, woe be to the unwary
Publisher who employs a title belonging TO
hligious rival for it Is the publisher and not the
author who is responsible Zen IA; colorado INT
assuredly bring down the wrath of the Courts, in
the form of substantial damages
Before the proposed title is finally passed for
press all the available book catalogues for about tie
last forty years must be diligently searched TO see
that it has not been previously adopted. Apart
from the dread OF legal phantoms, 1t Is not advan-
tageous to the publisher of either that two books
shOnld be i'm the market under the same or even
mstakably similar titles. booksellers IN the eoun-
try, when ordering from their wholesale agents in
town. liable, under these circumstances, to have
the books they do not want sent them; and extra
expense of carriage and time, besides great deal
OF correspondence and confusion, follows as d
matter OF course. such unpleasantnesScs DO not
react TO the benefit OF the sale of either of the two
notifications Speaking generally. there many
well marked variations of the species Title. Pub
fishers and old hands al writing are therefore ac-
customed to speak of selling, "catchy" H." mis-
leading" and weak" titles. Under the first of
these groups would be included those titles which
catch the eye at once, are harmonious 10 the ear.
and convey instantly TO the nina elther cIeIr
conception OF the scope ana intention OF thc DOCK,
or raise in the imagination a desire 10 know more
concerning its contents. Among recently published
books, The Land of the Midnight San" may be
instanced rs "A good title of this class Those who
know or have read about Scandinavia at once per-
ceye its appropriateness and applicability; and
those who are unaware that the sun can ever he
seen AT midnight naturally have their curiosity
aroused by the very anclfu mess of the ttle, and
desire to know more about the work. This title Is
also one likely to lingeT long IN the memory.
Biographies about the easiest class OF books
for which to select titles the name OF the subject OF
the memoir being generally suIhclent Novels are
certainly the most dlcuit books "a name suitably.
Though in other classes of books misleading titles
often turn cut to be good st ling titles, amongst
Ia how IN a
worthy farmers of the South Downs and WoldS
must have ordered Ruskms work sheepfods,
and we wonder how many unsuspIclous and SIMPLE
minded persons have taken Adam and Eve TO Dc
n book treating Of the cride-tme of our race and
have not many enthusiastic students procured
kingSlev's yeast thinking that they were GET
ting a work upon tOruia and kindred OrganIsmsf
II was not so very long ago that 2 young lady
asked at a library for Ouida's Moths, To enable
her to pursue further her chronological studies. AZ
any rate q move, should show clearly from It's title
that 1t is work of fiction. For this reason, the
use of Biblical quotations as tites-a practice I'M
fortunately in vogue just now, with certain writer's
lis to be deprecated.
There is one novelist whose hooks bear SIMPLY
the names of flowers. and though vo'umInouS
writer il is not likely that this ass OF titles VIII
be exhausted, and the plan has the merit OF dis
tncjneSS growing custom and one IN keeping
with the SO-caled irstheticsm of the present time,
is TO call novels by few well-known words from
some old English song or carol This method may
only be passing fancy, but u IS unconventional,
and for the class OF books TO which 10 Is applied, IS
an agreeable change from the stlh titles TO which
prOprlate TO the stories OF certain HFing WrlErs'
The press, nowadays, pours out such an over
wlelIniug 0uantity OF works OF fiction that the
ultimate fate of any particular novel depends
somewhat upon its name. The title should be IN
separately come ted wth.the main incidents OF the
book, so that tie recollection OF the plot VIII az
once recall the TITLE aud the mention or sgh al inc
III e be sufficient To wildly bring 90 mind the plot
Among titles which seem 10 fulfil these conditions
nav be mentioned solver Twist bleak
House. Felix Holt the Radical, Vanity fai5,
Love or Marriage, " Cheyenne Jacguelihe' ing
Wreck Of the GTOSvenOr - Conhdehuat agent,
Lady Audleys Secret The laIi,nah' west
ward Hop Titles which linger longest III the
memory are generally short. or catchy as they
NAV he called and snch usually con. list OF one or
two words only. Il possible a title should be
= Nicholas Nickieby,' Bapaby Ridge Ready
Money Mortiboy." Dorothy Fox; or else dis
tinctly difficult OF pronunciation as /. Iheophrastus
Suchp Mr.. Pisisratus Brown, NJ p " Rose
Tur0uand" Among the Gibjigs,p "Fritters.
Talters and the Councillor kickleburys on the
Rhine Contarini Fleming Titles falling under
the former category are likely TO prove the more
advantageous The trick of ALTERATION. combined
with some of the qualities already mentioned. y
not without its advantages; Plckwick Papers,
" Summer Snow Fallen Fortunes Cupps. the
Carrier " Lost for Love- The Chronicles OF
Caringford7 "Peregrine Pickle Roderick Ran.
DOM" Rob Roy" white Wings" are lnstances
which occur at once TO the mind.
As rule, those titles are weak when commence
with an article Catalogues ruthlessly discard ali
such aixes and index the books by the initials Oi
the second words Long labby titles. conslstingo Oh
q number OF short words, seldom successful.