The Washington times. (Washington [D.C.]) 1901-1902, 1901-08-25
PASHIONING BOOK TITLES
How the Modern Successful Novel
Receives Its Name.
Brevfty the Latter-Day Afm-some
Masterpieces of ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Old Half-PaGe DcxiKnation-sOme
Very Amusing misconceptions.


IN the choice OF DOCK title at the pres
emf moment preVity Is the nrst eonsider-
anon Pnnishers object to long names.
booksellers dislike them, and the general
puohc cuts or mutilates them a title
must De snort. distinct, ana easily remem-
oered- Every word beyond the three or
fourt that are absolutely necessary Is
WORD zoo many. IL Is petter ior tue
TO exniain little OF nothins' than Tor IL
10 explain TOO much When hinsiake
christened a fascinating DOCK OF travels
Eothen- readers could draw no possi-
Die ioretaste OF It's contents from that
mystic Eastern word. YET the ute was
good one. only those rev VINO under
stood Romany could Juoge what 10 e1-
pect from BORROW Lavenero. YET enat
also Is a masterpiece OF titles Al one
time Borrow had contemplated the far
less satisfactory title OF Life: ORA
ma" which would have been both vague
and misleading. The choice or title Is.
indeed. one OF an authors most dimcuie
and. often, worrying tasks.
The oid-fashioned title erred In trying
to combine the duties OF preface and con-
tents list with Its own natural once. IL
would take far TOO much space 10 quote
many such tities' out as moueraee eA
ample. we may notice the title OF pop
ular work published oy Wliam rome III
the year lSS2 This title runs as loiio"s:
The Yearbook OF Daiiy Recreation anu
Information concerning hemarhaoie aen
and Manners, Times ana seasons, ooieh,
mites and Merrymakihgs, Ah'iqui'ies anu
Novelties. on the rian OF the Every Gay
BOOK and Tapie-book' OF E'eriasuls "a
endar OF Popular Amusements' sports,
PaStlmeS. Ceremonies,
Events incident 10 Each OIL the inieo
huhoreo anu oiAtS -nse lays Ia inc
and Present iime' FORMING Cohipie.e
fiistory OIL tne iear. anu
TO the almanac VI course ms ne a.
n''.s Oh reaoy eo.oensa.io.', anu eHs ~. ~
Is no" Always SIMPLY reielfeu " aS Tn.
iear-booh' put !. Is ta' sp
oui ioreia'hs NV VI -. 10
woius' we may .aAe II ~.
a. ~ s..i.e 49, 80 ~
~ INC Au'' ...,s IA, ~ ,,..
One nofe iehstny t.ie VIM We 4"s'
enough FOR quotation' TINS Is the ute pre-
fixed tn a hook in its second edition. pub
,,sbed bv Rohn IN ,s.2. "Enrxc,ooedia of
t., -, "A -r.,,,,o.r.-,,,,.,i An.cso,s Pc
i"teiaiy anu posia piiie<ii
ing digest OF the most interesting iactS
illustrative OF the History of Literature
and Printing. from the earliest period to
a. $500. - rn,arsr.r.., ,v,th h,o-
the present Tune. iheersperseo Win Do
graph1cai sketches OF eminent Dookseiiers'
printers, type founders. engravers, book
binders. and papermakers of all ages and
oo,,ntr,s. ~, a.,ac,.uv cra., pr,,a,r.
-. I
with DipiioSrapnical ana descriptive ac-
counts Of theiS principal productions. and
occasional extracts from them. Including
c,,riou. n.r,,cnI,ra NJ tine frst INTRODUCE
., ,.,1s .-.-S
ton OF printing INTO various countries.
ov~l Of h. \ Ant nf
early Bibles and Litureies of all coun-
tries esnec;a,,v boo,<. nr,nte, IN England
49, - -
OF In Ensnsn. history Oh al the news
ed in this country: and an account of ink
ord n.nar ur,ttra ard nr,n+,ro rra,e-
a"o PapeA, "ne' aiiu piii'e na
riais, the invention Oh paper anu paper
Nichols Literary Anecdotes and numer-
ous other a,,,bor,t,es NV r n T1mnerIev.
- -
tinuation to the present time, comprising
recent biographies. chiefly of booksellers.
and a practical manual OF printing. Lon
DON"
Readers OF the present day. whose read
ing is often almost confined to skimming
the headlines of newspaper. would new
er wade through such a title as this. 1t
is an extreme specimen of what the old
fashioned title-maker could do. Even that
delightful work which we now briefly de-
scribe as "Boswelrs johnson" has
somewhat formidable front page, The
Life of Samuel Johnson. LII. D.. compris-
ing Series of his epistolary Correspond
ence and Conversations with many Emil
nent Persons: and various original Pieces
Account of his Studies and Numerous
Works, the whole exhibiting a view Of
Literature and Literary Men In Great
Britain for nearly half a Century As
alb, sin uVSlv
In the case of a work Of history or biog-
raphy the choice of title is usually easy
and obvious; often there are no alterna-
fives IN choose from. with fiction it Is
dtfficult Dickens considered twenty-ono
different names before he selected The
Tale Of Two Cities" He always liked to
have his title chosen before he seriously
began to write at a tale. He said once:
at shall never be able to do anything
for the work until il has a fixed name"
In general the best name for a novel Is
the name of its hero or heroine. Dickens
acted on this principle himself.
and his departures from it, as in Our
Mutual FRIEND and Great Expecta-
The same for the most part: but he some
times bickered with Constable about his
titles. 1t was Constable who prevailed
en- Scott to use the name of "Kenil-
worth" instead of calling that romance
"Cumnor Hail." and the publisher also
suggested that the abbot" should be
christened 1.-The Nunnery," as a more fit
title to the Monastery
In the last resort many an author has
been compelled to take the suggestions Of
his publisher in this matter Of titles. 1t
was Blackwood who persuaded George
Eliot to select the name of THE Mill on
he Floss" instead of calling that tale
Sister Maggie" The publishers choice
was the more picturesque though less
.eally appropriate One Of Hawthornes
,ovels was actually published under two
Instinct titles. In America 1t appeared as
The Marble Fam" in England AZ