Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1886-07-10

claims young lady. al wonderhow In the
world the author ever thought Of tW Yet
cannot Imagine more appropriate one, ~
everyone will agree after having read the
book. In fact, II doesn't belong into the
category OF "queer" titles at all, but into
that Of simply descriptive ones. 1t precisely
expresses the motD of the whole story. And
that is something which cannot always, not
even usually, be said of book titles. Take,
for example, such utterly unintelIigible ones
~ Mr.. Rusk ms " Fors Clavigera," "Sesame
aud Lilies" Ethics of the Dust" or "a
Treatise on Sheepfods." This last, when Il
first appeared, led astray not onlya multi
tude OF Librarians and indexers, who natur-
ally put IL under tho heads of Stock-rais-
ing" Agriculture" and so on in their cat
alogues but also misled any number of far
mers who bought tho book, thinking to get
from 1t valuable information on the subject
of sheep and sheepfolds-all tho while II was
nothing but one of Ruskin's characteristic
theological fulminatioDs! The wellknown
Diversions of Purlsy," IL Ia said, was
bought soon after its irst publication by a
rural book club under the impression that 1t
was book of games aud parlor amusements
similarly the Essay on Irish Bulls "
lound manv purchasers among " stock
raisers while Colerdge's " Ancient Mari
ner had quite a considerable sale among
seaiaring men, who imagined it to bea work
treating OF ships ana maritime matters
among the ancents. Still worse than the
disappointment of these must have been the
disgust OF those staid old entomoogists, who
In the pursuit of their science bought Ouida's
sensational novel entitled Moths - or
those who in search of further information
on the eastplant betook themselves to
kngsley's novel Yeast"
"To both authors and publishers this mat
ter of titles is one of the most important and
often difficult considerations in connection
with their books. We are told that Dickens
never could write a story comfortably until
he had settled upon its title first of all. And
this to him was no light matter he spent
almost as much time aud thought over 1t as
over tho rest OF the book. Before he decided
upon The Tale of Two Cities he proposed
and carefully considered no less than
twenty-one other names; while fourteen
others were conscientiously weighed and
found wanting before he finally chose the
one of " Hard Times" Not unfreQuently
tho publisher decides upon tho title of a
book, as in the case of SCOTS famous " Rob
Roy" which title was given it by his pub
Usher, Constable, who also christened "Ken-
ilwortb," the name Scott had chosen being
"Cumnor Hall" Constable is said to have
been excessively proud of his achievement,
and was overheard to say " am almost
the author of the Waverly Novels :" George
Eliot wrote the greater part of " The Mill on
the loss " under the prosac title of " Sister
Maggie" until her publisher prevailed upon
her to change it for the present better one.
EVEN this title, however, seems to have
been misleading for some for it is said
bookseller in England on his catalogue had
the following:
&C. Mil. on Representative Government.
Ditto, on the Floss ~
That old lady was more excusable for her
mistake who called for Dr.. John Browns
Horrors of Society" meaning his delightful
"Horm Subsecivie - for how could she
snC%' this was the Latin for Hours of Lei
sure q? .-os,
THAT there is nothing new under the sun
even in the modern taste for alliterative titles
may be seen by looking over almost any
catalogue of books two or three centuries old.
Here for instance, are a few that are worthy
of Swinburnes talent for " similar sounds ::
" a Delicate Diet for Daintie Drunkards
was published IN the sixteenth century so
was 50 Diets Dry Dinner But /" The Stag
gering State of Scots Statesmen, by Sir John
Scot, of Scotstarvet," belongs to the seven-
teenth. Others as old are "A Pante of
Pleasure aud Grove of Graces !" and this
elaborate one " Seven Sobs of Sorrowful
Soul for Sin; or the Seven Peniteutial
Psalms of the Princely Prophet David,
whereunto are also annexed William Hum
uis's Handful of Honeysuckles, and Divers
Cody and Pithy Dittes now newly aug
mented." We need not be told the dates of
the following. They have the genuine Puri-
tan twaDg about them and also the Puritan
lengthiness 4" \ Reaping Hook well tenn
pered for the stubborn Ears of the coming
Crop, or Biscuits baked in tho oven of Char
ity, carefully conserved for the Chickens of
the Church, the Sparrows OF the Spirit and
the Sweet Swallows of Salvation" More
humble as to length are the titles of two
books that were probably companion vol
umes in those pious days of the Protector,
viz " The shop of the Spiritual Apothe-
cary" and six Pennyworth of Divine
Spirit" Sull others are /" A Pair of Bellows
to Blow oil the Dust Cast Upon John Fry ~
" High-heeled Shoes for Dwaris in Holiness"
" Hooks and Eyes for Believers Breeches," "
and multitude more of the same kind. To
find more modern specimens, some of them
fully as quaint and curious, you need only
look through some of Xahm's catalogues. If
those Old books were half as interesting as
their titles now are, they must have been en-
tertaining reading. However, L am quite
content with the titles. UNCAs.
PiufuI signt.