New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-06-12
Titles for Novels.


I At the recent booksellers convention in
Chicago one of the delegates complained of
the inanty Of the titles given to so much
of the new fiction by authors or publish
ers. For the authors choice does not al
ways meet with the publishers approval.
The latter knows what's in a name from
the commercial point of view. fellcltous
title is, indeed, a rare find growing in
crea ingly difficult as the field for the exer-
else of human ingenuity is being ever more
restricted by the multitude Of published
land copyrighted) titles Of novels At
one time, some twenty years ago, it was
even currently reported that enterprising
geniuses made the invention and copyright
of titles side industry, selling their prod
uct to whoever discovered at the last mo-
ment that the title on which he had set his
heart was no longer his for the taking.
We all know the story of Thackeray's
discovery, after many anxious days and
sleepless nights He jumped out of bed
and cried 81 have it! Vanity Fair,
Vanity Fairw 1t was find, indeed, orig
inal, arresting. Many novelists have
turned to the Bible The now forgotten
American novelist, Edgar Fawcett, turned
to this source of inspiration and found
thinking Cymbals." No doubt other nov
elists have taken from the same text its
Sounding Brass" and Tongues of Men"
Another, and greater, American novelist,
" liam Dean IIowels, has found Shake
speare never-faiing refuge in his search
for titles for his many books: "a Foregone
Conclusion" "The Undiscovered Country"
"A Counterfeit Presentment," "A Modern
Instance" "a Hazard of New Fortunes"
"The Coast of Bohemia" The Bard, in
deed, has proved so fruitful a purveyor Of
titles for novels that tentative list Of
them was made a few years ago by Mr.
Olney Streamer, the librarian Of the Play
ers' Club. In the heyday of his popularity
Omar Khayyam suggested several apt
titles.
Then there are initiative titles, adapted
from that of a popular success. When
Mrs. Deland published her John Ward,
Preacher" she set the fashion for series
of titles of which "Metzerott, Shoemaker"
alone fingers in the memory. Jack Lon
don's Call of the Wild" suggested many
lures to others. And Uncle Toms Cabin"
gave us an early tale of protest against
industrial slavery, Uncle Toms Tene-
ment" II did not amount to much
Charles Reade had the knack of attract
ing attention to his books with striking
titles: at Is Never Too Late to Mend"
"Put Yourself in His Place" The title
of his masterpiece was his own invention,
however: "The Cloister and the Hearth"
One is inclined to believe that it was, if
anything. a handicap rather than an aid
to the story's well-merited and enduring
success. Returning to our own country,
"The Scarlet Letter" is probably the best
title given to his work by an American
novelist.
Tolstoy was a master Of titles: War
and Peace" THE Powers of Darkness"
But we must confine ourselves to fiction.
Dickens believed largely in the names of
his heroes for his titles, and so did Thack-
cray Nicholas Nickleby," Martin Chuz-
zlewit," "Oliyer Twist" Henry Esmond,"
"The Newcomes," "Pendennis." Such
titles, one is inclined to believe, are a last
resort after all search for something filter
has failed. They acquire significance only
after the book has been read and won the
reader And they are most easily forgot
ten when the impression the book makes is
negative. A name-title that was excep-
tionally felcitous in that it suggested in
advance the grace and romance of the
story was Monsieur Beaucaire."
There are descriptive titles, which never
succeed in describing fully, like lord Or
mont and His Aminta." There are mysti-
flying titles, like "The Shaving of Shagpat"
and "The Lady or the Tiger" There are
tricks in titles-the alliterative trick, for
instance. And, as the bookseller at Chi.
cago pointed out, there are inane titles,
mostly attached. it is safe to add, to inane
books.