9/7/01
1. Introduction
2. The Entry
3. Further Readings
The Dictionary of Literary Biography is a reference work ("Dictionary"); it is about writers("Literary"); and it is about the lives and careers of those writers ("Biography"). The features that a DLB entry must have follow directly from these considerations:
1. A DLB entry must be objective and impersonal. It is intended for a wide range of library patrons and should be clear and nonidiosyncratic. The contributor must avoid intruding his or her own literary opinions. The entry is not a critical essay; it is a reference tool. It is not the place for a contributor to propound a thesis or prove a point; other forums—e.g., scholarly journals, books written by the contributor—are available for that purpose. Claims about the subject's significance or about the literary merits of the subject's works should be presented as a consensus of critical and literary- historical opinion; or, if there is no consensus, the major divisions of opinion should be presented. Objectivity also requires that a DLB entry should not be a piece of hagiography that does nothing but sing the subject's praises.
2. The focus of a DLB entry is the subject's career and reputation. The organization of the entry follows Samuel Johnson's decree: "Just as a hero's life proceeds from battle to battle, so does an author's life proceed from book to book." The entry should be organized chronologically: after an introductory paragraph or two that briefly gives the reader an idea of the subject's significance, the entry should give an account of the subject's life, beginning with his or her birth. The subject's most important works should be briefly discussed at the points in the subject's biography when they were written or published; the discussion should include the contemporary critical reception of the work. (Note that some DLB volumes are restricted as to the forms or genres of literature treated: e.g., they deal with their subjects not as writers in general but as novelists, short-story writers, poets, dramatists, essayists, journalists, travel writers, etc. In such cases, the entry should concentrate on the subject's works of that kind, although works of other types may be mentioned in passing.) A "systematic" treatment of the subject's works intended to establish some theory of the contributor's is to be rigorously avoided. If the entry is not organized chronologically, it may not be accepted for publication; if it is accepted, the Bruccoli Clark Layman in-house editor will reorganize it to make it chronological.
3. A DLB entry should be tightly written, without "floweriness"; and, since the DLB is a scholarly work, a conversational, informal, "chatty" tone is to be avoided. Again, entries displaying such stylistic features may be rejected for publication; if they are accepted, DLB in-house editors are under strict orders to remove such features. The result may well be a loss of the contributor's authorial "voice"; but the DLB is a reference series that must maintain a certain consistency of tone from entry to entry and from volume to volume.
Contributors and volume editors should also keep in mind that the primary intended audience for the DLB is the university and college undergraduate student, although we certainly want it to be useful to scholars, as well. Therefore, no specialized knowledge or background on the part of the reader is to be presupposed. Any terms used in an introduction or an entry that are not included in Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, tenth edition, should be defined and explained.
The Chicago Manual of Style (hereafter known as CMOS) is our main reference for style and Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, tenth edition (hereafter known as Web.) for spelling, but we differ from them on many points. Most of the points covered here are matters on which DLB house style differs from CMOS or Web. The material is organized according to the parts of a DLB volume: introduction; entry (headings, rubrics [i.e., primary and secondary bibliographies], text, and photos); and Further Readings.
The introduction to the volume is the responsibility of the volume editor. It should be about five thousand words in length and should be readable as an essay on literary history. The introduction should introduce the main currents of literary activity, the dominant cultural influences, or the major historical events required for proper use of that volume. Topics related to form and genre should also be discussed, when appropriate, in the introduction.
The volume editor will be expected to submit the introduction within ninety days of signing the DLB contract. After acceptance by Bruccoli Clark Layman, Inc., the introduction should be sent by the volume editor to the contributors to that volume as a guide to the scope of the material that is to be covered.
A. Headings
The subject's name, birth and death dates, the contributor's name, and the contributor's affiliation are centered at the beginning of the entry. The subject's name should be given in the form by which the subject is generally known, which will usually be the way the name appears on title pages or bylines — for example, H. L. Mencken, not Henry Louis Mencken. Prominent pseudonyms under which the subject wrote, if any, will be given in parentheses and smaller type below the subject's name; or, if the subject is primarily known by a pseudonym (e.g., Ned Buntline), that name may be given as the main heading, with the real name in parentheses below.
Birth and death dates are enclosed in parentheses and set in italics below the name (or pseudonym); like all dates in a DLB entry, they are given in the form day month year (e.g., 17 June 1944), with no commas. Birth and death dates are separated by an en dash with a space before and after it. (Ranges of numbers are always separated by en dashes, but usually without the spaces. The reason for the spaces in the birth and death dates is to avoid misreading. E.g., in 23 May 1824–26 September 1902 the center numbers could be misread as 1824–26 [i.e., 1824 to 1826]. With a range of pages, such as 75–89, no such confusion will occur.) If a date is doubtful, a question mark will be placed after it (e.g., 17 June 1944?). If the subject is still alive, the death date will be replaced by a space. If in either date the day is unknown, the month and year will be given (e.g., June 1944); if the month is unknown, the year will be given; if even the year is unknown, a question mark will appear. If both the birth and death dates are unknown, two question marks separated by an en dash can be used (e.g., ? – ?). Alternatively, a year or range of years can be given when it is known that the subject was active, preceded by fl. (for floruit [flourished]) or fl. ca. (for floruit circa [flourished about]). If an approximate date can be given, it should be preceded by ca. Note that in any of these cases in which an en dash is used, it is still preceded and followed by a space, even if no ambiguity would result from the omission of the spaces.
Contributor's name in roman type appears below the birth and death dates, followed on the next line by contributor's affiliation (usually a university or college) in italics but not in parentheses. If the contributor has no affiliation, this line is omitted; we do not give the contributor's place of residence, for example.
See also: If the subject has appeared in previous volumes, a headnote appears at the top of the left column, without indents: E.g., See also the McCarthy entry in DLB 6: American Novelists Since World War II, Second Series. Or: See also the Phillpotts entries in DLB 10: Modern British Dramatists, 1900–1945; DLB 70: British Mystery Writers, 1860–1919; and DLB 135: British Short- Fiction Writers, 1880–1914: The Realist Tradition. Contributors and volume editors should check the most recent DLB Cumulative Index to see whether a See also heading is required.
B. Rubrics
Note that the names of the rubrics BOOKS, SELECTED PERIODICAL PUBLICATIONS—UNCOLLECTED, Bibliographies, Biographies, and References are given in the plural; if there is only one item listed in a rubric, the name will be singular.
Front rubrics (primary bibliographies): Under each rubric at the beginning of the entry, works are listed chronologically. The standard order for front rubrics (not all of them will be used in every entry) is:
BOOKS: First U.S. and British editions of all books written by the subject, with or without co-authors, are listed chronologically; if the book was first published somewhere other than the U.S. or Britain, that publication is given first, followed by the U.S. and British editions. Editions should be listed in the order in which they were published, if such can be determined; if they were published in the same year, in general one might assume that an American writer's books were published first in the U.S. and a British writer's in the U.K. In each case the title comes first; the subject's name is not mentioned, since it is understood. Exception: if a book is co-authored by the subject and one or more others, the subject's last name will appear after the title along with the full names of the co- authors: Gunshot Wounds, and Other Injuries of Nerves, by Mitchell, George R. Morehouse, and William W. Keene (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1864). If subsequent books involve the same co-authors, only their last names will be given.
Anonymous and pseudonymous publication: If a book was published anonymously, the word anonymous follows the title: e.g., The Doomed Chief; or, Two Hundred Years Ago, anonymous (Philadelphia: Bradley, 1860). If a book was published under a pseudonym, this information is given after the title: e.g., Hearts and Faces; or, Home-Life Unveiled, as Paul Creyton (Boston: Phillips, Sampson, 1853). If the pseudonym is a normal name, with first name and surname (not a one-word name such as Trevanian, or a description such as "the author of Waverley"), only the surname will be given for subsequent books published under the pseudonym; e.g., in an entry on Evan Hunter: April Robin Murders, as Ed McBain (New York: Random House, 1958); The Sentries, as McBain (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1965). If a book originally published under a pseudonym is republished with the same title but under the author's real name: The Modigliani Scandal, as Zachary Stone (London: Collins, 1976); as Follett (New York: Morrow, 1985). If a book originally published under a pseudonym is republished with a different title under the author's real name: Blueprint for Murder, as Roger Bax (London: Hutchinson, 1948); republished as The Trouble with Murder, as Garve (New York: Harper, 1948).
Translations of subject's works: In entries on subjects who wrote in languages other than English, the first translation into English of a book should be listed along with the original edition: Goldelse: Roman (Leipzig: Keil, 1867); translated by Annie Lee Wister as Gold Elsie (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1868). A translation of an excerpt from a book should be handled thus: Amerikanische Wald- und Strombilder (Dresden: Arnold, 1849)— includes "Schulen in den Backwoods," translated by James William Miller as "Schools in the Backwoods," in In the Arkansas Backwoods: Tales and Sketches, edited by Miller (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1991), pp. 62 –73. If the translation of the excerpt was published as a separate book: Karsch und andere Prosa (Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1960)—includes "Eine Reise wegwohin," translated by Richard and Clara Winston as An Absence (London: Cape, 1969). Note that we do not say "translated into English," as that is understood. We do not list translations into languages other than English unless they are mentioned in the text of the entry. In that case, we would say, e.g., "translated into French by Translator's Name as Title of Translation," etc. If the English translation of a work was published before the non-English original: Rape of Honor, translated by Sigrid Rock (New York: Dial Press, 1961); German version published as In einem Schloß zu wohnen (Gütersloh & Munich: Bertelsmann, 1976).
As noted above, BOOKS should be a comprehensive and exhaustive list of first editions of all of a subject's books. If it is impossible to include all first editions, or if we have reason to believe that not all have been included, the rubric name should be changed to SELECTED BOOKS.
If the subject wrote no books, the BOOKS or SELECTED BOOKS rubric would be omitted. If all of the subject's works are translations, the rubric would be renamed TRANSLATIONS. If the subject's works are prefaces, introductions, or forewords to, or editions of, the works of others, or contributions to larger works, the rubric would be renamed WORKS.
Editions or Collections or Editions and Collections: Important later editions of subject's works, including scholarly editions or editions with forewords, introductions, etc. that are referred to in the text of the entry; collected editions of subject's works that do not include material being published for the first time. Collected editions that include previously unpublished material should go under BOOKS.
Editions in English: In entries on authors who wrote in languages other than English: important translations of items under BOOKS other than the first translations; also, translations that do not correspond to any item under BOOKS (e.g., a collection of periodical publications or of excerpts from several of the subject's books).
PLAY PRODUCTIONS: Title of Play, City, Theater, date of premiere. E.g., Last Train South, London, St. Martin's Theatre, 11 August 1938. Note: It is possible to list more than one premiere for a given play: e.g., U.S. and British premieres; out-of-town (e.g., New Haven) tryout and Broadway premiere, if the two are substantially different productions; etc.
Play revised without title change: The Green Hat, London, Adelphi Theatre, 2 September 1925; revised, New York, Broadhurst Theater, 15 September 1925.
Play revised with title change: Call Me Jacky, Oxford, Oxford Playhouse, 27 February 1968; revised as A Matter of Gravity, New York, Broadhurst Theater, 3 February 1976.
Title change without revision: Gertie, New York, Plymouth Theater, 30 January 1952; produced again as Little Idiot, London, Q Theatre, 10 November 1953.
MOTION PICTURES: Title of Picture, screenplay [scenario, etc.] by Subject's Last Name, Production Company, year of release. [Proper names of some leading production companies: M-G-M, Warner Bros., 20th Century-Fox, RKO.] E.g., The Moonshine War, screenplay by Leonard, M-G-M, 1970.
TELEVISION: "Title of Program," script by Subject's Last Name, Series [if applicable], Network, broadcast date [cf. CMOS 7.148]. E.g., "Sorry, Right Number," Tales from the Darkside,script by King, ABC, 20 November 1987.
RADIO: Same as for TV.
RECORDINGS: Title of Recording, read by Subject's Last Name, label, number [if available], year of release. E.g., The Poetry of Miller Williams, read by Williams, New York, Norton 23237, 1974.
OTHER: Introductions, prefaces, and forewords by the subject to works by others; important pieces by the author included in anthologies; books edited by the subject; translations by the subject of works by other authors (if there are only a few, and if there are other items under OTHER): Author of Book, Title of Book, introduction [preface, foreword, translated, edited, edited and translated, compiled, contribution(s)] by Subject's Last Name (City: Publisher, year); Title of Book, edited by Subject's Last Name (City: Publisher, year); "Title of Piece," in Title of Book, edited by Editor's Name (City: Publisher, year), pp. – . E.g., Richard A. Hough, Dreadnought: A History of the Modern Battleship, introduction by Forester (London: Allen & Unwin, 1958); Chile: An Anthology of New Writing, edited by Williams (Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1968); Harper's Anthology of 20th Century Native American Poetry, edited by Duane Niatum, contributions by Ortiz (New York: Harper & Row), pp. 139–151; André Roussin, The Little Hut, translated by Mitford (London: Hamilton, 1951). Note that for introductions, prefaces, and forewords we do not give page numbers; it is assumed that these items come at or near the beginning of the book.
TRANSLATIONS (if there are a lot of them or if there are no other items to be listed under OTHER): Author, Title of Book (City: Publisher, year). E.g. (From an entry on Ethel Colburn Mayne): Emil Ludwig, Three Titans (London & New York: Putnam, 1930). It is not necessary to say "translated by Subject's Last Name," since that is understood, unless there were one or more co- translators; in that case, we say "translated by Subject's Last Name and Co-translator's Name": e.g., Carl Spitteler, Selected Poems, translated by Mayne and James F. Muirhead (London: Putnam, 1928; New York: Macmillan, 1928). Also, neither here nor under OTHER is the original title of the translated work given; only the title of the translation is needed.
SELECTED PERIODICAL PUBLICATIONS—UNCOLLECTED: Under this rubric pieces may be classified by genre. The headings are in small caps and in this order:
Poetry
Drama
Fiction
Nonfiction
In specialized volumes some front rubrics may occur in a different order. In a volume on dramatists, for example, PLAY PRODUCTIONS comes first; in a volume on screenwriters, MOTION PICTURES comes first. Everything else remains the same. In volumes on newspaper or magazine journalists there is an additional rubric that precedes all the rest and is set block-paragraph style: MAJOR POSITIONS HELD.
Back rubrics (secondary bibliographies). The order for rubrics at the end of the entry (not all will be used in every entry) is:
Letters:
Interviews:
Bibliographies:
Biographies:
References:
Papers:
Items under back rubrics are arranged chronologically by date of publication, except those in References and Papers. Items in References are arranged alphabetically by author's last name. Multiple works by the same author, and works with no author listed, are arranged alphabetically by the first significant word in the title (i.e., excluding the articles of speech A, An, The). The author's full name is given the first time it is mentioned within each rubric; on subsequent mentions within that rubric only the last name is given.
Book reviews of the subject's works are not cited in References, even if they are mentioned in the text, unless they are long essay-type reviews. When a review is mentioned or quoted in the text, the title of the periodical in which the review appeared should be given, and the date of the issue should appear in parentheses. E.g.: "Drew Middleton said in The New York Times Book Review (16 September 1956): ‘The story is told superbly because Mr. Moorehead knows what a battlefield looks, smells and sounds like.'"
In Papers, the subject's full name, as given in the heading, should be used on first mention.
If these institutions should show up in Papers, here are the proper forms of their names: (1) The Graduate School and University Center, The City University of New York; (2) Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin.
Front and back rubrics: As places of publication, well-known cities such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Princeton, London, Paris, etc. do not have to be followed by names of states or countries. Also, if it is obvious from other information where the city is located, the state does not have to be given: e.g., Columbia: University of South Carolina Press.
Abbreviations for state names as places of publication are as given in CMOS 14.17 (not the zip code abbreviations), except that California is Cal., not Calif.; Maine is Me.; Oregon is Ore.; and Wisconsin is Wis. Cambridge, England, is just Cambridge; Cambridge, Massachusetts, is always Cambridge, Mass. Put U.K. (for United Kingdom) after the names of unfamiliar British cities and towns if there is a chance of their being confused with American places of the same name. This rule applies even in volumes devoted to British writers, even though it might be assumed there that the original place of publication is in Britain.
Proper style for publisher's names: If the publishing firm bears the name of a person or of several persons, we usually just use the last name or names. If the name of the firm ends with Press or Books, we usually omit those words. We almost always omit terms such as Company, Co., Inc., Ltd., and Sons, and Brothers. The word and connecting two personal names in a publishing company (such as Harper and Row) is replaced by an ampersand (Harper & Row); but if the and does not connect names of people, it is spelled out (e.g., New Haven: College and University Press; Boston: Office of the New England Historical and Genealogical Register). Note: These rules only apply in the rubrics; in the text of the entry the publisher's full name would be given, and and would be spelled out. If two cities are listed on the title page, the cities are joined by an ampersand (e.g., New York & London); if there are three or more cities, commas are placed after each one except the next to last, which is followed by the ampersand (e.g., New York, London, Toronto & Melbourne). (Although we would put a comma before and, we do not put a comma before an ampersand.)
In volumes dealing with periods up to the early nineteenth century, publication information will frequently include the printer's name, the bookseller's name, or both. E.g., A View of Sir Isaac Newton's Philosophy (London: Printed by S. Palmer, 1728); The Maid's Tragedy Altered (London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, 1690); The Sophy (London: Printed by Richard Hearne for Thomas Walkley, 1642); The Convocation; or, A Battle of Pamphlets (London: Printed for E. Young & sold by J. Morphew, 1717).
If the city of publication is known but the publisher's name is not: Title of Book (City, year). E.g., The Strange Case of Edgar Allan Poe (Boston, 1923). If the city is not known but the publisher is, we use N.p. (No place): Title of Book (N.p.: Publisher, year). E.g., The World to Come: A Poem in Three Cantos (N.p.: Privately printed, 1916). (Note: We differ here from CMOS 15.159, which says not to capitalize the n except in bibliographies.) If neither city nor publisher is known: Title of Book (N.p., year). E.g., A Letter Addressed to the Archbishop of Canterbury (N.p., 1818).If year is not known: Title of Book (City: Publisher, n.d.). E.g., Descart, the French Buccaneer (London: Duncombe, n.d.) Books with unknown years of publication should be placed at the end of the list. If there is more than one, they should be listed in alphabetical order.
If the year of publication that appears on the title page is known to be incorrect: Title of Book (City: Publisher, year [i.e., correct year]). E.g., Laon and Cynthia; or, The Revolution of the Golden City: A Vision of the Nineteenth Century (London: Printed for Sherwood, Neely & Jones and J. & C. Ollier by B. M'Millan, 1818 [i.e., 1817]).
Privately printed editions: Title of Book (City: Privately printed, year). E.g., Picture Show (London: Privately printed, 1919).
If U.S. and British (or other) editions were published separately, publication information for the editions should be separated by a semicolon: Title of Book (First city: Publisher, year; Second City: Publisher, year). E.g., Plain Murder (London: John Lane, 1930; New York: Dell, 1954). If both publishers appear on the title page (joint publication), the cities and publisher's names are separated by a solidus (slash mark) with a space on each side, and the year is only given once: Title of Book (First City: Publisher / Second City: Publisher, year). E.g., The Heart's Journey (New York: Gaige / London: Heinemann, 1927).
Subsequent editions:
Revision and/or enlargement with new title: Title of Book (City: Publisher, year); revised [enlarged or revised and enlarged] as New Title (City: Publisher, year). E.g., The Hopkins Manuscript (London: Gollancz, 1939); revised as The Cataclysm (London: Pan, 1958).
Revision and/or enlargement with same title, different publisher: Title of Book (City1: Publisher1, year; revised [enlarged or revised and enlarged] edition, City2: Publisher2, year). E.g., Christmas Pudding (London: Butterworth, 1932; revised edition, London: Hamilton, 1951).
Revision and/or enlargement with same title, same publisher: Title of Book (City: Publisher, year1; revised [enlarged or revised and enlarged], year2). E.g., The Bomber Gypsy, and Other Poems (London: Methuen, 1918; revised and enlarged, 1919).
Republication with new title but not revised or enlarged: Title of Book (City: Publisher, year); republished as New Title (City: Publisher, year). E.g., The Lonely Unicorn: A Novel (London: Richards, 1922); republished as Roland Whately: A Novel (New York: Macmillan, 1922).
Multivolume works:
If the book is a multivolume work, the number of volumes is given in Arabic numerals after the title: Title of Book, number of volumes (City: Publisher, year[s]). E.g., The Egoist: A Comedy in Narrative, 3 volumes (London: Kegan Paul, 1879; New York: Harper, 1879). If an editor is listed for a multivolume work, the editor's name comes after the number of volumes: Title of Book, number of volumes, edited by Editor's Name (City: Publisher, year[s]). E.g., William Cox, Crayon Sketches: By an Amateur, 2 volumes, edited by Fay (New York: Conner & Cooke, 1833). Exception: If different editions of the work had different numbers of volumes, the numbers go inside the parentheses: Title (number of volumes, City1: Publisher1, year[s]; number of volumes, City2: Publisher2, year[s]). E.g., Passages in the Life of Mrs. Margaret Maitland (3 volumes, London: Colburn, 1849; 1 volume, New York: Appleton, 1851).
If a multivolume work was published in two different years, the years are separated by a comma: Title, 2 volumes (City: Publisher, year, year). E.g., Prefaces to Shakespeare, 2 volumes (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1946, 1947). If the publication was over the course of more than two years, the beginning and ending years are separated by an en dash: Title, 3 volumes (City: Publisher, year–year). E.g., A History of American Magazines, 5 volumes (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1938–1968).
There are several ways to refer to parts of individual volumes of a multivolume work. If only one volume is being referred to:
(1) Title of Work, volume no. (City: Publisher, year), pp. – . E.g., "The American Language," in Literary History of the United States, edited by Robert E. Spiller, Willard Thorp, Thomas H. Johnson, and Henry Seidel Canby, volume 1 (New York: Macmillan, 1948), pp. 663–675.
(2) Title of Work, no. of volumes (City: Publisher, year), volume no. in Roman numerals: – . E.g., Frank Luther Mott, A History of American Magazines, 5 volumes (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1938–1968), I: 83–86.
If more than one volume is being referred to:
(1) Title of Work, no. of volumes (City: Publisher, year[s]), first volume no., pp. - ; second volume no., pp. – . E.g., Frank Luther Mott, A History of American Magazines, 5 volumes (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1938–1968), volume 1, pp. 101–103; volume 2, pp. 351–355.
(2) Title of Work, no. of volumes (City: Publisher, year[s]), volume1 no. in Roman numerals: – ; volume2 no. in Roman numerals: – . E.g., Frank Luther Mott, A History of American Magazines, 5 volumes (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1938–1968), I: 101–103; II: 351–355.
If the titles of all of the individual volumes of a multivolume work, or all of the contents of a single-volume work, are to be listed, the information should be given after the publication information following an em dash and the word comprises: Title of Book, no. of volumes (City: Publisher, year[s])—comprises First Title, Second Title, Third Title, Fourth Title [Note: If the various volumes were published in different years, and if the information can be obtained, the year of publication of each volume should be given in parentheses after the title of that volume]. E.g., Bernard Shaw, 6 volumes (London: Chatto & Windus, 1988–1992; New York: Random House, 1988–1992)—comprises volume 1, 1856–1898: The Search for Love (1988); volume 2, 1898–1918: The Pursuit of Power (1989); volume 3, 1918–1950: The Lure of Fantasy (1991); volume 4, 1950–1991: The Last Laugh (1992); volumes 5 and 6, The Shaw Companion (1992). Title of Book (City: Publisher, year)—comprises "First Piece," "Second Piece," "Third Piece," etc. E.g., Stories of the Seen and Unseen (Boston: Roberts, 1889)—comprises "A Little Pilgrim," "The Little Pilgrim: Further Experiences," "Old Lady Mary," "The Open Door," "The Portrait." If any of the pieces in a volume are plays or novels, the titles would be italicized rather than placed in quotation marks. If only some of the titles of individual volumes or pieces in a single volume are to be given, comprises should be replaced by includes.
Selections from books:
When citing a selection from a book, if the entire book is by the author(s) of the selection, place in his, in her, or in their between the title of the selection and the title of the book: Author's Name, "Title of Selection," in his [her, their] Title of Book (City: Publisher, year), pages. E.g., Lawrence Clark Powell, "John C. Van Dyke," in his Southwest Classics: The Creative Literature of the Arid Lands (Los Angeles: Ward Ritchie, 1974), pp. 314–328. If the book is not by the author of the selection but is a collection of pieces by various authors, add the name of the editor of the book (if this information is available) after the title: Author's Name, "Title of Selection," in Title of Book,edited by Editor's Name (City: Publisher, year), pages. E.g., Michael C. Steiner, "Frederick Jackson Turner and Western Regionalism," in Writing Western History: Essays on Major Western Historians, edited by Richard W. Etulain (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1991), pp. 103–135. Note that in either case, the inclusive page numbers on which the selection is to be found should be cited.
Series:
If a book is part of a series, the name of the series, in roman type, follows the title of the book; or, if an editor's name follows the title of the book, the series name follows the editor's name. If the series has numbered volumes, the number of the book being cited should follow the series title, separated from it by a comma and preceded by either no. (for number) or volume. E.g., P. A. Empson, Papers of Elspeth Josceline Huxley, Mss. Afr. S 782 Kept in Rhodes House Library, University of Oxford Colonial Records Project (Oxford: Bodleian Library, 1966); Richard Peck, A Morbid Fascination: White Prose and Politics in Apartheid South Africa, Contributions to the Study of World Literature, no. 78 (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1997); Werner Senn, Studies in the Dramatic Construction of Robert Greene and George Peele, Swiss Studies in English, volume 74 (Bern: Francke, 1973); Maynard Mack, "The Jacobean Shakespeare: Some Observations on the Construction of the Tragedies," in Jacobean Theatre, edited by John Russell Brown and Bernard Harris, Stratford- upon-Avon Studies, no. 1 (London: Arnold, 1960), pp. 75–94.
Dissertations and theses:
For dissertations in back rubrics: Author's Name, "Title, " dissertation, Name of University, year, pp. – [if needed]. E.g., Carl G. Stroven, "A Life of Charles Warren Stoddard," dissertation, Duke University, 1939. We don't have to say "Ph.D. dissertation," because dissertations are always written to fulfill the requirement for a Ph.D. Theses, however, may be written for a master's degree or a Ph.D., so we need to we need to specify: Author's Name, "Title, " degree thesis, Name of University, year, pp. – [if needed]. E.g., Nancy Kay McQuistion, "Psychological Realism in Elizabeth Stoddard's The Morgesons," M.A. thesis, Texas A&M University, 1988.
Periodicals:
For magazines and journals under SELECTED PERIODICAL PUBLICATIONS —UNCOLLECTED and in back rubrics, it is not necessary, although it is acceptable, to give either the date (day, month, or season) or the issue number; all we need is volume number and year. But we never give both the issue number and the day, month, or season. Also, all citations of the same periodical should be treated the same way: if one citation includes issue number or day, month, or season, all citations of that periodical should do so. The date (even if it is only the year) is in parentheses, followed by a colon, followed by the inclusive page numbers (we do not use ff.); there is no pp. E.g., James R. Baker, "Forster's Voyage of Discovery," Texas Quarterly, 18 (Summer 1975): 99–118.
For periodicals new series, second series, third series, etc. are spelled out—not abbreviated n.s., 2nd ser., etc.— and precede the volume number with no comma in between: e.g., J. D. Alsop, "Barnabe Googe's Bookplate," Notes & Queries, new series 15 (Fall 1996): 15–20; Harold Williams, "Ronald Brunlees McKerrow," Library, fourth series 20 (March 1940): 345–349.
Special issue of a journal devoted to subject of entry: Title of Journal, special Subject's Last Name issue, volume number (date). E.g., Wordsworth Circle, special Hazlitt issue, 6 (Spring 1975). Page numbers are not needed, since the whole issue is being cited. Alphabetize in References according to first significant word of journal title.
Newspapers: for U.S. papers, add the city to the title (if it is not already part of the title) and italicize it, except in the case of national-circulation papers such as the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. If the city is not well known, put the abbreviation for the state in parentheses and roman type after the city: Columbia (S.C.) State. For non-U.S. papers, put the city in parentheses and roman type after the title: Times (London), L'Aurore (Paris). The day, month, and year of publication follow the title and are not enclosed in parentheses. Page numbers are preceded by a comma and pp. unless a section number is included; then there is a comma, the section number in roman numerals, a colon, and the page numbers: E.g., (1) New York Times, 17 June 1944, pp. A10 –A11 . (2) St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 30 April 1943, II: 3–4. (Agrees with CMOS 15.238, 15.240, 15.241, and 15.242; modifies CMOS 15.239.)
The is not used in titles of periodicals in rubrics, although it is in the text of the entry.
The Times Literary Supplement was founded in 1902; in January 1969 it became TLS: The Times Literary Supplement. In bibliographies it should be called Times Literary Supplement from 1902 through December 1968 and TLS: The Times Literary Supplement from January 1969 onward. In the text of the entry, from 1902 through December 1968 it should be called The Times Literary Supplement (TLS) on first mention and TLS on subsequent mentions. From January 1969 onward it should be called TLS: The Times Literary Supplement on first mention and TLS on subsequent mentions.
Publishers' Weekly dropped the apostrophe beginning with the 17 January 1972 issue.
The U.S. version of the Saturday Review was Saturday Review of Literature (volumes 1–34, 1925–1951), then Saturday Review (volumes 35–55, 1952–1973). In February 1973 it was split into four separate magazines, all of which were renumbered as volume 1: Saturday Review of Education, Saturday Review of the Arts, Saturday Review of the Sciences, and Saturday Review of the Society. This arrangement lasted until May 1973. In September 1973 the four magazines were replaced by one: Saturday Review/World (volume 1– volume 2, no. 7 [14 December 1974]). Then the name changed back to just plain Saturday Review for volume 2, no. 8 (11 January 1975), and it continued under that title until it ceased publication with volume 12, no. 3 (September 1986).
Harper's Bazar was published under that title from 1867 to 1929, when it became Harper's Bazaar.
The Manchester Guardian carried that title from 1821 to 1825 and from 1828 to 1959; it was the Manchester Guardian and British Volunteer from 1825 to 1828 and has been The Guardian since 1959.
The New Statesman was known by that title from 1913 until 21 February 1931 and again from 6 July 1957 until 3 June 1988; it was the New Statesman and Nation from 28 February 1931 until 30 June 1957. It became the New Statesman and Society on 10 June 1988.
When the title of a piece in a periodical or book ends with a question mark or an exclamation point, there will be no comma before the closing quotation marks. E.g., "What Is a Poet?" in Poets and Poetry, edited by Howard Nemerov (New York: Basic Books, 1966), pp. 114–132. This rule accords with CMOS 15.221. We do not follow the other aspects of the examples given in CMOS15.221: we put a comma between the periodical title and the volume number, and we capitalize the name of the season inside the parentheses. E.g., "Guns and Boyhood in America," Georgia Review, 42 (Summer 1988): 329–339.
When correcting proofs, please note that it is not a bad break either in the rubrics or in the text to have the day separated from the month in a date. While it is a bad break to separate initials from each other, it is O.K. to separate a single initial from the last name (for example, S. French).
C. Text of Entry
Organization:
Aside from one or two introductory paragraphs that give an idea of the subject's significance, and a final paragraph that summarizes his or her reputation in the field, the text of the entry should, as far as possible, be organized chronologically. The events of the subject's life, including writing or publication of his or her works, should be discussed in the order in which they occurred. Contributors should avoid the temptation to depart from chronology and treat their subjects' works "systematically" to advance some thesis or other.
In discussing the subject's works, the "literary present tense" should be used: "Twain shows how Tom tricks his friends into whitewashing the fence for him." In paraphrasing book reviews, however, the past tense should be used: "The reviewer for The New York Times (1 April 1989) said that the novel was the biggest piece of dreck he had ever read."
One-sentence paragraphs are not allowed. On the other hand, extremely long paragraphs should be broken up into shorter ones.
Note: The following rules of house style do not apply within quotations. In quotations the original spelling and grammar should be preserved. So should the original punctuation, except: if the quotation itself includes a quotation, modify the quotation marks and move commas and periods, if necessary, to correspond to American (not British) practice as explained in CMOS 5.11–5.13, 5.86, and 10.26–10.28. That is, outside quotation marks are double, inner quotation marks single, quotation marks within inner quotation marks double, etc.; also, periods and commas go inside the closing quotation marks. Also, not all of these rules will apply to entries in the DLB Yearbook, where contributors are given wider latitude in stylistic matters than in a regular DLB volume (to give just a few examples, they may be allowed to use first-person constructions and contractions and to mention book titles without giving the date in parentheses).
Names and titles:
First names of people are used only on first mention, unless needed for clarity; and they should always be used on first mention, even for well-known people such as William Shakespeare. On first mention the subject's name should be given as it is in the heading of the entry; the full name (if different from the name as given in the heading), including middle name(s), should be given at the point at which his or her birth is mentioned. The subject's name as given in the heading may be repeated in a final paragraph that summarizes his or her significance.
If the subject's name changed during his or her life—e.g., if a woman got married and began to be known by her husband's name, or if the subject adopted the pseudonym by which he or she became generally known—the original name should be used up until the point in the biography where the change occurred (in the introductory paragraphs, of course, the subject's best-known name is used). Otherwise it's anachronistic. If, in the early part of the biography, one has to refer to something that happened later, after the name change—for example, if a passage from the subject's autobiogra phy dealing with the early years is quoted—it's OK to refer to the subject by the name under which he or she was known at the later time.
If authors or editors of items cited in rubrics—e.g., authors of bibliographies, biographies, references, editors of the subject's works or letters, etc.—are mentioned in the text, their names should be given in the same way in both places. E.g., if the author of a work on the subject is given as Ira D. Shankey in References, he should be Ira D. Shankey—not just Ira Shankey—the first time he is mentioned in the text. (After that, of course, he will just be Shankey.)
Spelling of names that have various versions: Molière is just Molière (do not need to give his original name); Napoleon has no accent over the e; Fyodor (not Fëdor) Dostoyevsky (not Dostoevsky, Dostoevski, etc.), Jacques Prévert (with the accent), Leo (not Lev) Tolstoy (not Tolstoi), Sir Walter Ralegh (not Raleigh, since we spelled it Ralegh in the entry on him in DLB 172; note that this refers to the Elizabethan gentleman, not to Sir Walter Raleigh, the critic, essayist, and literature professor who lived from 1861 to 1922); on the other hand, it is George Bernard Shaw, not just Bernard Shaw, even though we called him Bernard Shaw in DLB 10, 57, and 190. It's Alexandre Dumas père and Alexandre Dumas fils, with the père and the fils italicized on each mention.
We do not use accents on capital letters in French: for example, it is Emile, not Émile, Zola. (Agrees with note in CMOS 9.33.)
We do not use the courtesy titles Mr., Mrs., Miss, Ms., Dr., and so forth followed by a last name; just use the last name. If necessary for clarity — for example, to distinguish between a husband and wife — use full names.
As in CMOS 14.5, we abbreviate military titles (e.g., Gen. and Maj. when they precede full names, spell them out (General, Major) when they precede last names. But unlike CMOS 14.7, we always spell out Reverend when it is used as a title, whether it is preceded by the or not. We also always spell out President when it precedes a name. When these words are used as nouns rather than titles, they are lowercased: E.g., "The reverend gave the benediction," "the president held a press conference." (In regard to president, we follow CMOS 7.19.) Also, unlike CMOS 14.5, we do notabbreviate academic titles such as Professor, Associate Professor, etc. whether they precede a full name or a surname.
Pope, referring to a specific individual who is head of the Roman Catholic Church, is capitalized even when it is preceded by the and does not precede a name: e.g., "The Pope celebrated mass." If the word does not refer to a specific individual but to popes in general, it would be lowercased: e.g., "The College of Cardinals elects the pope." (Replaces provision in CMOS 7.21.) Logically, it would follow that Antipope should also be capitalized, although we probably won't encounter this word too often.
Titles of nobility: On first mention, the person's real name should be used. For example, notjust "Lord Byron" but "George Gordon, Lord Byron"; not just "the duke of Wellington" but "Arthur Wellesley, first Duke of Wellington." Good sources for the full name are Webster's Biographical Dictionary and, for British nobility, the Dictionary of National Biography. Also, note the capitalization in the Wellington example. If you just say "the duke (duchess, earl, count, marquis, and so forth) did this or that," it is lowercase. If you tell what he or she was the duke (duchess, and so forth) of, it is still lowercase. Only if the title follows the proper name is it capitalized, and then the ordinal number (first, second, and so forth) is still lowercased. (Modifies CMOS 7.23, which lowercases both the number and the title.)
Titles such as Emperor, President, Prime Minister, Prince, Queen, etc. are capitalized when preceding a name, unless there is a qualifying word before the title. E.g.: Emperor Franz Josef but Austro-Hungarian emperor Franz Josef; President Bill Clinton but American president Bill Clinton
Saint in place names and when preceding the names of Christian saints is abbreviated St.(Modifies CMOS 14.16 and agrees with the exception in CMOS 14.18). In personal names it should be abbreviated or spelled out according to the usage of the person whose name it is. (Agrees with CMOS 14.16.)
When the title of a book (whether written by the subject or by someone else) is first mentioned in the text, it should be given in full, including the subtitle (unless the subtitle is a generic one such as A Novel). Thereafter, only the main title should be mentioned. Do not use short titles: for example do not shorten The Catcher in the Rye to Catcher. (Overrules CMOS 7.134 and 15.252.)
When a title (of a book, story, poem, etc.) is first mentioned, the year of first publication should be given in parentheses immediately after it, unless the year is indicated in some other way (e.g., "In 1922 he published . . ." or "In that same year he published . . . "). The year should not be given in parentheses again for that title. If the main discussion of the work occurs much later than the first mention, it is a courtesy to the reader to remind him/her of the year by working it into the text in some such manner as that just given in parentheses.
Non-English works: (1) if there is a published translation of the work, on first mention the original title should be given, followed in parentheses by the date of first publication, a semicolon, "translated as," the title of the translation, and the year of publication of the translation. E.g., Sieben Legenden (1872; translated as Seven Legends, 1911); "Der Landvogt von Greifensee" (1878; translated as "The Governor of Greifensee," 1914). Of course, the translation must be included in the front rubrics. (2) If there is no published translation, on first mention a courtesy translation should be given in parentheses, followed by the year of publication of the original. E.g., Neue Bilder aus dem Leben des deutschen Volkes (New Pictures from the Life of the German Nation, 1862); "Hinter dem Dom" (Behind the Cathedral, 1859). Note that in these cases the translation of the title is not in italics or quotation marks. Also note that the courtesy translation is capitalized according to our standard practice for titles in English, as given in CMOS 7.127 and 7.128. (3) If there is a published translation, but the translated title is not a fairly close translation of the original title, on first mention a courtesy translation should precede the year of publication of the original. E.g., Doktor Luther: Eine Schilderung (Doctor Luther: A Description, 1883; translated as Martin Luther, 1897); "Eugénie oder der Bürgerzeit" (Eugénie; or, The Bourgeois Age, 1928; translated as "The Royal Woman," 1930).
Edition should be capitalized (but not italicized) when it is part of the name of a collected (usually multivolume) edition of an author's works. E.g., The New York Edition of the works of Henry James (1906–1917); The Wings of the Dove, New York Edition (1909); The Fireside Edition of the works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Edition should not be capitalized when it refers to a book that is not part of such a collected works: e.g., the 1902 New York edition of The Wings of the Dove; the 1902 Scribners edition of The Wings of the Dove. (Augments CMOS 7.142.)
If a play was first performed in one year and first published in a different year, on first mention the year of first performance should be given in parentheses if the context of the discussion is the production of the play, the reviews, etc. If the context is the style or genre of the writing, the year of first publication should be given. If the context is unclear, give year of first performance.
In the text of an entry The should be italicized and capitalized in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Saturday Evening Post, and any other periodical of which it is part of the title. (Replaces CMOS 7.136.) In the rubrics, however, The is omitted; it is just New York Times, for example).
Do not make plurals or possessives of titles of works. Instead of "She bought two Chicago Tribunes," say "She bought two copies of the Chicago Tribune"; instead of "The Chicago Tribune's policy," say "The policy of the Chicago Tribune;" instead of "Frankenstein's plot," say "the plot of Frankenstein." (Replaces CMOS 6.14 and 6.29.) For that matter, nothing inanimate can possess anything. So do not say "the novel's plot," "the story's ending," "the book's readers," and so forth; make it "the plot of the novel," and so forth. Also, books cannot "contain" anything; say includes, consists of, comprises, or some such.
Titles of comic strips are italicized: e.g., Dilbert.
The title of a fictitious book or play is italicized, just like a real one.
Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western should be capitalized when referring to characteristics specific to the given region: e.g., Southern writer, Southern Democrat, Western storyteller; but southern railroads, northern elections. (Overrides CMOS 7.36 and 7.38, which seem to limit the capitalization of Northern and Southern to Civil War contexts.)
Communist and Fascist are capitalized when referring to the political parties, or members of the parties, bearing those names (just as we would capitalize Democrat and Republican); but they—and communism and fascism—are lowercased when referring to believers in the ideologies or to the ideologies themselves.
Cultural movements and styles that are not capitalized in CMOS 7.69 but that we do capitalize: Abstract Expressionism, Cubism, Dada(ism), Fauvism, Imagism, Romantic(ism), Surrealism, Transcendentalism.
Spanish Civil War is capitalized (repeals CMOS 7.97); so is English Civil War. Cold War is capitalized when referring to the ideological conflict between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R (repeals CMOS7.68. Web. says that it is "often" capitalized in this context; we will always cap it).
In Thirty Years' War (fought in Germany from 1618 to 1648)—the apostrophe comes after the s.
Great Depression and Depression are capitalized when referring to the worldwide economic downturn that began in 1929. (Overrules CMOS 7.68, which seems to indicate that depression is lowercased when not preceded by Great, even when the aforementioned worldwide downturn is meant.)
The name of the International Association of Poets, Playwrights, Editors, essayists and Novelists is abbreviated P.E.N. (Modifies Web.)
The abbreviation for the late, unlamented Union of Soviet Socialist Republics—also known as the Soviet Union—is U.S.S.R. (With periods).
Numbers:
Spell out cardinal numbers from one through one hundred; after that, spell out round numbers such as two hundred, three hundred, and so forth; one thousand, two thousand, fifty thousand, and so forth; one million, two million, and so forth. For anything between such numbers, use numerals: for example, 1,500, not fifteen hundred. The same applies to ordinal numbers: first, second, thirty-eighth, one hundredth, 150th, 362nd, 823rd. (Replaces CMOS 8.3 and 8.4.)
Within a paragraph or series of paragraphs, numbers in the same category (that is, referring to the same kinds of things) should be treated consistently: if any have to be put in numeral form according to the foregoing rule, all should be. For example, "His library included 156 novels, 20 volumes of poetry, and 5 biographies. Altogether, eighty-seven authors were represented." (Same as CMOS 8.8.)
Fractions: In nonscientific writing, which is what we will generally be dealing with in the DLB, it is O.K. to say such things as "three and a half" (it does not have to be "three and one-half," as seems to be indicated by CMOS 8.13.)
Years, days of the month, and street addresses are always in numerals; names of numbered streets (e.g., Forty-second Street) and highways (e.g., Interstate 26) are always in numerals. (Agrees with CMOS 8.33, 8.61, 8.62, and 8.63).
A sentence (except in a quotation) should never begin with a numeral. (See CMOS 8.9 and 8.10.)
Watch out for constructions such as twenty-five-year-old man. Contributors can't seem to get this right: they frequently leave out the final hyphen (twenty-five-year old man) or even the final two hyphens (twenty-five year old man). Here are a couple of variants: "The twenty-five-year-old published his first novel" (three hyphens); "He was twenty-five years old" (one hyphen).
Money: Treat exact amounts of money in figures and use the appropriate currency symbol: 25¢, $1.00, $25.48, £10, £87.50. One reason for this rule is to avoid confusion between British money and measures of weight (a reader might see a reference to "fifty pounds" and wonder, "Fifty pounds of what?" No such confusion would occur in regard to U.S. currency, of course, but if we do it for British money we need to be consistent and do it for everybody's money. (Replaces CMOS 8.23, 8.26, and 8.29, which say that money should be treated according to the rules laid down for dealing with numbers in general.)
In the text of the entry spell out volume numbers: for example, volume two; in rubrics, use the numeral. But even in the text, use numerals for chapters of books and acts and scenes of plays. In all of these cases use arabic, not roman, numerals. (Replaces CMOS 8.32 in regard to volume numbers in text.)
Inclusive numbers: we follow CMOS 8.68, meaning that it is acceptable (although it is not mandatory) to give ranges of years, pages, etc. separated by an en dash: e.g., 1920–1933 is O.K.; it is not necessary to change it to "from 1920 to 1933," "from 1920 through 1933," "from 1920 until 1933," or "between 1920 and 1933." We also agree with CMOS 8.68 that it is not acceptable to combine a dash with the preposition from: e.g., "from 1751–1757" is wrong. Caution: "He went to Paris in 1954 and 1955" does not mean the same as "He went to Paris in 1954–1955"; the first sentence means that he went there twice, the second that he went once and stayed for a couple of years. Also: although this rule is not a hard-and-fast prohibition, it is better to avoid having birth and death years in parentheses following a person's name, as in "His father was Thomas Abingdon Cadwallader (1803–1898)." Usually the dates can be omitted altogether, because we do not care about them. If we do care, it can be rewritten as "His father was Thomas Abingdon Cadwallader, who was born in 1803 and died in 1898." It would be better, however, to leave the birth year out, wait until the point in the subject's life when the father died and then say, "His father died in 1898" or "His father died in 1898 at age ninety-five" (the latter, however, only if there is some relevance to the father's age when he died; there is no point in cluttering up the entry with useless information).
In writing a range of numbers, as in the "1954–1955" example above, give the second number in full — not abbreviated as "1954–55." (Replaces provisions of CMOS 8.40 and 8.68–8.73.) Also, we do not use contractions such as the '60s; it is the 1960s. (Overrides CMOS 8.40.) An exception would be in expressions such as "the Gay Nineties" and "the Roaring Twenties"; but there we spell out the numbers rather than using the numeral with an apostrophe.
It is World War I and World War II, not the First World War and the Second World War and not World War 1 and World War 2. (Replaces provisions of CMOS 7.97.)
Spelling:
Web. is our main authority for spelling; if Web. and CMOS disagree, go with Web. If Web.gives variant spellings, we use the preferred spelling (except as noted below). Here is how to determine the preferred spelling: if two spellings are separated by also, the preferred spelling comes before the also; if a word has no definition listed but is described as a variant of ("var of") another spelling, the preferred spelling is the other one (the one that is not a variant). If two spellings are separated by or, they are "equal variants"; that is, neither is actually preferred, unless the two words are out of order alphabetically (e.g., plow or plough.), in which case the first spelling is slightly more common. As a rule of thumb, we will consider the first spelling (the one that precedes the or) the preferred one.
It is catalogue, not catalog. (Overrides Web., which lists catalog first.)
Vice president and vice presidency are not hyphenated (CMOS Table 6.1, p. 227, accepts either hyphenated or open; we follow Web.).
It is midocean; the mid 1940s (noun phrase) but a mid-1940s trend (adjective); the mid nineteenth century (noun) but a mid-nineteenth-century painting (adjective). (Agrees with CMOSTable 6.1. pp. 219–220 and 226).
Words in which three vowels occur in succession will be hyphenated at the syllable break: e.g., co-author. But we also hyphenate some words that do not have three vowels in succession: e.g., co-edit, co-editor, and re-unite. (Overrides Web. and CMOS Table 6.1, p. 229.)
Satirical and satiric are both correct and mean the same thing. On the other hand, historic and historical have different meanings and cannot be used interchangeably; see Web.
Naive (agrees with Web. preference) and naiveté (overrides Web., which gives this spelling as the second of two less-preferred variants).
Punctuation:
Comma:
We follow CMOS 5.57 in using a comma to separate the last two elements in a series: E.g., "Dodwell traveled through Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, and Tanzania."
Use a comma after descriptive phrases such as his wife, her son, their sister when followed by a name if the person had only one wife, sister, son, and so forth. If there was more than one, do not use a comma, because we are using the phrase to single out the one we are talking about. The same would be true with a phrase such as his 1997 novel: if he published only one novel in 1997, use comma; if more than one, no comma (agrees with CMOS 5.49 and 5.50.). Note: This question can arise both in regard to real people, such as the subject of an entry, and in regard to fictional characters. In the latter case, there may be no answer to the question.
Short introductory adverbial phrases, or even moderately long ones, do not have to be set off by a comma. For example, "In Love among the Daughters Huxley returned to autobiography"; "In July 1939 the Lewises sailed to New York City." (Agrees with CMOS 5.38). But if misreading is likely, a comma should be used: e.g., the example given in CMOS 5.38: "Before eating, the members of the committee met in the assembly room." For the same reason, if a proper name follows the name of a place or a month, use a comma for clarity: "In June, Edwards published his first novel"; "In London, Maxwell worked on the manuscript for A Reed Shaken by the Wind." Also, these introductory phrases always get commas: "In addition," "According to [name]," "On the one hand," "On the other hand," "Although [or Though] such and such, . . ."
Introductory adverbial clauses (clauses include subject and verb), on the other hand, arefollowed by a comma: "When Dodwell was thirteen, her family returned to Nigeria."
Usually, commas will be used between independent clauses in a sentence. A clause — as opposed to a phrase — has a subject and a verb. An independent clause is one that could stand alone as a sentence without changing its meaning. For example, the following is a compound sentence made up of two independent clauses: "I went into the kitchen, and I got a drink of water." Without the meaning being changed, it could be separated into two simple sentences: "I went into the kitchen. I got a drink of water." Notice that in the compound sentence the two clauses are joined by the coordinating conjunction and, and the conjunction is preceded by a comma. On the other hand, the sentence "I went into the kitchen and got a drink of water" has one subject and a compound predicate. You would not put a comma before and in this sentence: "I went into the kitchen, and got a drink of water" is incorrect. Other coordinating conjunctions are but, or, nor, for (in the sense of "because"), so (in the sense of "therefore"), and yet. Independent clauses joined by those conjunctions will be separated by commas except in two cases where semicolons will be used: (1) with independent clauses in a series, such as "This little piggie went to market; this little piggie stayed home; this little piggie ate pork chops (he was a cannibal); and this little piggie ate none" (replaces CMOS 5.31); (2) if the conjunction is yet, as in "I got drunker than a hoot owl; yet, I did not barf all over my shoes." Also, notice that yet is (per Rick) followed by a comma. (Replaces part of CMOS 5.92.)
A dependent clause also has a subject and predicate, but it cannot meaningfully stand alone as a sentence. Some dependent clauses have as their subject a relative pronoun (that, which, who, whom, whose, or when); others are introduced by the subordinating conjunctions although, because, after, or that. Dependent clauses with the relative pronouns that, which, who, whom, whose, and when as subjects may be restrictive (defining; essential to the meaning of the sentence) or nonrestrictive (descriptive; adding more information) clauses. Restrictive clauses should not be preceded by a comma; nonrestrictive clauses should be preceded by a comma.
The biggest problem here is with which; that is always used to introduce a restrictive subordinate clause, but which can be used to introduce either kind, and that confuses people. For example, in the sentence "Beresford's psychological orientation is suggested by the early chapters of the book, which pass over many of the incidents of Jacob's youth" which introduces a nonrestrictive (descriptive) clause, so there should be a comma before it. Without the comma, we are saying that some of the early chapters pass over many of the incidents of Jacob's youth, while others do not, and that we are only referring here to the ones that do pass over it. But the sense of the sentence is that allof the early chapters pass over it. Deleting the comma, in other words, makes the nonrestrictive or descriptive clause into a restrictive or defining clause. How can you tell which kind of clause it is supposed to be? There is no hard and fast mechanical rule; you have to understand what the sentence is trying to say. One way is to substitute that for which and see if the sentence still means the same thing. I would urge that we make it a policy to use which only to introduce nonrestrictive clauses; thus, which will always be preceded by a comma. If the contributor has used which to introduce a nonrestrictive clause, change it to that. Some people consider that rule to be excessively fussy, but you cannot go wrong with it. Also, I think the use of which to introduce restrictive clauses sounds prissy: "He put down the book which he had been reading." Here's an example with who: "The idea was rejected by Beresford's father, who thought his disability would make such a career impossible." If you take out the comma (which a proofreader did on a proof I saw), you're saying that Beresford had more than one father, and that this one thought his disability would make such a career impossible, while the other father or fathers might not have thought so. (Agrees with and strengthens CMOS 5.41 and 5.42.)
Em (long) dashes:
There should not be more than two em dashes in a sentence. For example, this sentence , from the song "Along Came Jones," is incorrect: "He grabbed her — and then, and then — he tied her up — and then, and then — he threw her on the railroad tracks." Only one word, phrase, or clause per sentence should be set off by em dashes. (Agrees with CMOS 5.114.)
Grammar:
It is an historical and an historian, not a historical and a historian. Historical and historian are the only words that begin with a nonsilent h that get an. (Replaces CMOS 6.60.)
Immigrate must always be followed by to; emigrate must always be followed by from. Mnemonic device: immigrate means coming into; emigrate means exiting from.
Comprise/compose: A whole comprises or is composed of its parts. It has become common to say that a whole "is comprised of" its parts, but we should avoid that usage. If this is a problem for you, mentally substitute include or embrace for comprise and you should be O.K. For example, "The book comprises [includes or embraces] ten chapters."
To be avoided (except in quotations):
Dangling modifiers. This topic is not covered in CMOS, but it is a problem that occurs fairly frequently. Many contributors do not seem to understand what a dangling modifier is. (The following discussion is adapted from Michael Montgomery and John Stratton, The Writer's Hotline Handbook: A Guide to Good Usage and Effective Writing [New York: New American Library, 1981] and Bruce Ross-Larson, Edit Yourself: A Manual for Everyone Who Works with Words [New York & London: Norton, 1982]). A dangling modifier is a phrase or clause that seems to refer grammatically to the subject of a sentence when, in fact, it refers to some other part of the sentence or to something not mentioned in the sentence. The results are frequently bizarre and unintentionally humorous. E.g.: "After eating, the bus left." "While climbing into the boat, the camera fell into the water." "When searching for a good job, a college degree is often helpful." "Losing the game by a 35–to–7 score, the streets were soon empty and quiet." "Walking to work after the blizzard, the sun's reflection on the snow almost blinded him." "Using official data and other information, these costs were allocated to specific activities." "Transposing the elements of the main clause, the dangling clause was tied to the subject by the author." Obviously, buses don't eat, cameras don't climb into boats, streets don't lose games, the sun's reflection doesn't walk to work, costs don't use official data and other information, and dangling clauses don't transpose anything. The following example are a bit more subtle: "Before applying to become a proofreader, it is a good idea to master dangling modifiers." "When working as a proofreader, it is wise to be on the lookout for dangling modifiers." "To become a proofreader, it is necessary to have mastered dangling modifiers." Be on the alert for a dangling modifier whenever a sentence has an introductory word, phrase, or clause. Dangling modifiers can be corrected by rewriting the sentence to include the unmentioned subject to which the modifier was intended to refer, or by moving sentence elements around so that the word to which the modifier refers becomes the subject. Here are possible corrections of the sentences above: "After the passengers finished eating, the bus left." "While Harry was climbing into the boat, the camera fell into the water." "When one is searching for a good job, a college degree is often helpful." "Since the Gamecocks lost the game by a 35–to–7 score, the streets were soon empty and quiet." "Walking to work after the blizzard, he was almost blinded by the sun's reflection on the snow." "Using official data and other information, the accountant allocated these costs to specific activities." "Transposing the elements of the main clause, the author tied the dangling clause to the subject." "Before applying to become a proofreader, one should master dangling modifiers." "When working as a proofreader, a person would be wise to be on the lookout for dangling modifiers." "To become a proofreader, a candidate must have mastered dangling modifiers."
A number of and numerous (any number is a number); replace with several, many, some, or some such word, or with the actual number. On the other hand, a large number of, a considerable number of, and so forth are O.K. Also avoid innumerable and countless: nearly everything can be counted, even if it is difficult and not worth doing.
Unique. It means that there is absolutely nothing that is like the thing under consideration, which is almost never literally the case. (Or, on the other hand, as the philosopher Leibniz pointed out, you could say that everything is unique: no two objects are alike in every particular; if nothing else, they occupy different locations, since two things cannot be in the same place at the same time.) Unique should usually be replaced by distinctive, rare, unusual, uncommon, or some such. Also avoid very (which you're supposed to avoid anyway; see next rule), extremely, quite, or highly unique: there are no degrees of uniqueness. A thing is unique or it is not.
Very, a lot, quantum leap, fortuitous, and point in time.
Over in the sense of "more than," as in "He wrote over thirty novels"; change to more than.
Penned or authored; change to wrote.
Film to refer to a motion picture; film is what runs through the camera or projector. Use motion picture or movie.
Issue as a verb in the context of book publishing (for example, "He issued a revised edition of the novel."). Issue in this context is a noun that refers to a change within a printing that affects the conditions of sale, and it almost always involves a change on the title page (for example, a change in the name of the publisher). Issue in this sense can be contrasted with state, which is a change that occurs when a pressrun is stopped to correct typos, and so forth. In this case there is no change in the title page. Anyway, the point is: do not use issue as a verb.
Beginning a sentence with And or But should usually be avoided. (It is all right to begin a sentence with Yet, followed by a comma.) This rule is not hard and fast; sometimes it is hard to avoid, and sometimes it is acceptable for emphasis or other rhetorical purposes. This is a judgment call for the editor; copyeditors should not query or mark these constructions unless they seem to be used excessively in a given entry.
This rule is optional; it is offered to volume editors and contributors for their consideration. William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White's The Elements of Style, Bruce Ross-Larson's Edit Yourself, and (judging by examples given) CMOS 5.45 and 5.91 advise against beginning a sentence or a clause with however in the sense of "but," "nevertheless," or "on the other hand." The however should be moved to a later place in the sentence or clause and be set off by commas. E.g., "However, the critic Ludwig Lewisohn pointed out that the plot depends heavily on coincidence" would be changed to "The critic Ludwig Lewisohn, however, pointed out that the plot depends heavily on coincidence"; "The roads were almost impassable; however, we at last succeeded in reaching camp" would be changed to "The roads were almost impassable; at last, however, we succeeded in reaching camp." According to these authorities, however can be used at the beginning of a sentence — without a comma — when it means "no matter how," "in whatever way," or "to whatever extent," as in "However long it takes, I will stay"; "However you advise him, he will probably do as he thinks best"; "However discouraging the prospect, he never lost heart."
Do not use ex-; use former.
The word this should not stand alone as a subject or object in a sentence; it must be followed by a noun or noun phrase. For example, "This did not bother him" should be changed to something such as "This situation did not bother him"; "She was prepared for this" should be changed to something such as "She was prepared for this eventuality."
Self-reference: the contributor must never refer to himself or herself in the first person. The words we and us should be avoided: instead of "We follow the hero's adventures" it should be "The reader follows the hero's adventures"; instead of "The author tells us . . . " it should be "The author says . . . ." Instead of "our century" or "our times" it should be "the twentieth century" or "modern times." The entry should not refer to itself: eliminate expressions such as "as was discussed above," "for the purposes of this entry," and so forth.
References to specific amounts of time that have elapsed between some event and the writing of the entry: for example, "since his death thirty-eight years ago," "in the last seven years critics have rediscovered his writings." DLB volumes have long shelf lives. Either leave out the time reference altogether (for example, just say, "since his death") or be specific about when the event occurred (for example, "since 1991 critics have rediscovered his writings.")
Etc., i.e., e.g., or et al., except in quotations. Replace with and so forth (or and so on), that is, for example (or for instance or such as), and and others, respectively.
Contractions, such as don't, can't, won't, it's. It is do not, cannot, will not, it is.
Constructions such as "The year 1926 saw. . . ." Years cannot see.
Ending a list with "and others" or "among others." For example, change "He met William Butler Yeats, James Joyce, and Norman Mailer, among others" to "He met writers such as William Butler Yeats, James Joyce, and Norman Mailer," or "Among the writers he met were William Butler Yeats, James Joyce, and Norman Mailer," or "He met many writers, including William Butler Yeats, James Joyce, and Norman Mailer." Note: Do not say "He met writers like William Butler Yeats, James Joyce, and Norman Mailer." There are two things wrong with this construction. First, it is intended to say that he met those three writers and some others, but it literally means that he did not meet Yeats, Joyce, and Mailer but met writers similar to them. Second, per Dr. Bruccoli, all writers are unique; there are no writers like Yeats, Joyce, and Mailer. In this case, again, say "He met writers such as William Butler Yeats, James Joyce, and Norman Mailer."
Constructions such as "In later years he would write several more novels" to refer to events that occurred later in time than the point at which the biography has arrived. Use the simple past tense: "In later years he wrote several more novels."
Constructions such as "It was . . . that . . . . " For example, "It was there that she met a tall, shy Scottish student of German literature named John George Robertson. It was under his influence that she developed a love for and a knowledge of a wide range of European literature." Instead, write: "There she met a tall, shy Scottish student of German literature named John George Robertson. Under his influence she developed a love for and a knowledge of a wide range of European literature."
Bracketed material within quotations. Do not make a quotation fit the grammar of the passage in which it appears by changing the first letter of the quotation from capital to lowercase, or vice versa, and putting the letter in brackets; the case of the original should be retained. (Replaces CMOS 10.16, 10.62.) Also, do not make quotations fit the grammar of the passage into which they are inserted by changing the tense of a verb (for example, by adding "[ed]"), substituting one pronoun for another (for example, changing "my" to "[his]" or "[her]"), adding "[s]" to nouns to make them plural, and so forth. The surrounding passage should be rewritten so that the quotation makes sense in its original form. Finally, rather than inserting bracketed words into a quotation for clarity—for example, replacing a pronoun such as he with the name—rewrite the surrounding passage so that it is clear who or what is being referred to. If it is impossible to do so, the word may be inserted in brackets, but the original word must be retained: for example, "Ray asked him [Tom] for a crescent wrench," not "Ray asked [Tom] for a crescent wrench." (Replaces CMOS 10.65.)
Due to in the sense of "because of." Change it to because of or owing to. It is O.K. to say, "He was due to arrive at 4:30."
Unfortunately, when referring to events in the subject's life: for example, "Unfortunately, Keats contracted consumption." That was unfortunate for him, but we do not express an opinion about it; it is just a fact. Also avoid tragically, as in "Tragically, their youngest son died." We can use unfortunately if it is something that has a deleterious effect on the state of literary history: for example, "Unfortunately, all of his early manuscripts have been lost" is OK. Also, do not use ironically or ironic to characterize an action or an event, as in "Ironically, he missed the boat" or "It is ironic that he missed the boat." It is OK to use ironically to characterize a person's expression or style, as in "Socrates said ironically that he was ignorant and wanted to learn from the sophist Thrasymachus, who was an expert on these matters." In other words, events can't be ironic, but people can.
Hagiography and excessive praise: the entry should be an objective assessment of the subject's life and work.
Non-English Words
Non-English words that are not in the main section of Web. should be italicized on first mention and all subsequent mentions. (Modifies CMOS 6.69, which suggests that decision to italicize or not "be based on a blend of considerations—familiarity, inclusion in a dictionary, and sympathy with the reader.")
The academic distinctions cum laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude are set in roman type, not italics, even though they are Latin. (They are in italics here, of course, because they are being referred to as words.)
Contrary to Web., we lower-case festschrift (a collection of articles in honor of a big-shot scholar by his or her colleagues) when it is used as an English word. (In German it would be capitalized, as all German nouns are.)
As noted previously, we do not use accents over capital letters in French.
Poetry quotations
Missing lines (either a single line or several consecutive lines) in a block poetry quotation are indicated by a line of dots that aligns on the left with the left margin of the block and on the right with the line above. If the preceding line turned over, the dots should align on the right with the line above the turnover. There is no line space above or below the line of dots. (Elaborates on CMOS 10.60.)
Illustrations:
Contributors are asked to provide suggestions for illustrations for their entries; photocopies of the suggested illustrations would be helpful. Please include information (e.g., if the illustration is taken from a book, the author, title, publisher, and year) that will help the photo editors locate originals of the illustrations. The final decision as to what illustrations will accompany the entry rests with the in-house editor of the volume. Bruccoli Clark Layman, Inc. will take responsibility for obtaining any necessary permissions and releases for copyrighted material.
The bibliography of further readings at the end of the volume is to be put together by the volume editor. It is titled Books for Further Reading if it includes only books, Checklist of Further Readings is it includes even one journal article or selection from a book. It should include general readings about the history, literature, and culture of the region and period covered in the volume; works on individual writers should not appear here but should be included in the secondary bibliographies of the entries on those writers.
Works are listed alphabetically by authors' last names. If there is more than one work by the same author, only the author's last name is given for works after the first, and the works are listed alphabetically by the first significant word in the title. Works written by an author precede works edited by the author.
Authors' names are given last name, first name, middle name or initial (if any). If there are co- authors, the first author's first name is followed by a comma, then the co-authors' names are given first name, middle name or initial (if any), last name. The final co-author's name should be preceded by and.
Publication information for books is given in the same form as in rubrics in entries, except that parentheses are not used, and every entry —not just the final one—ends with a period, not a semicolon. The title ends with a period, then the city, publisher, and year are given, followed by a period. If an editor's or translator's name follows the title, however, the title ends with a comma, followed by edited by or translated by, then the editor's or translator's name (first name first), then a period, followed by the publication information. Also, if there is information about the edition of the book being cited (revised edition, enlarged edition, revised and enlarged edition, second edition, etc.), the title ends with a comma, followed by that information, then a period, then the publication information. In the case of a multivolume work, the title ends with a period, followed by the number of volumes, then a period, then the publication information. If there are multiple publishers, the publication information is separated by a semicolon or, in the case of co-publication, by a solidus, as in rubrics. A selection from a book is given in quotation marks and roman type, with a comma inside the quotation marks, followed by in [his, her, their, unless an editor's name is given after the title], followed by the title of the book, period [or comma and edited by, editor's name, period], publication information, comma, pages.
Examples of book citations:
Simple: Baym, Nina. Novels, Reader, and Reviewers: Responses to Fiction in Antebellum America. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1984.
Successive publication by same author: Baym. Woman's Fiction: A Guide to Novels by and about Women in America, 1820–1870. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1978.
Books written and edited by same author: Adams, Percy G. Travelers and Travel Liars, 1600–1800. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1962.
Adams. Travel Literature and the Evolution of the Novel. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1983.
Adams, ed. Travel Literature through the Ages: An Anthology. New York & London: Garland, 1988.
Co-authors: Freeth, Zahra, and Victor Winstone. Explorers of Arabia: From the Renaissance to the Victorian Era. London: Allen & Unwin, 1978.
Editor given after title: Charvat, William. The Profession of Authorship in America, 1800–1870, edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1968.
Translator given after title: Sigaux, Gilbert. History of Tourism, translated by Joan White. London: Leisure Arts, 1966.
Edition information given after title: Van Doren, Carl. The American Novel, 1789–1939, revised and enlarged edition. New York: Macmillan, 1940.
Multivolume work: Oswell, W. Edward. William Cotton Oswell: Hunter and Explorer, 2 volumes. New York: Doubleday, Page, 1900.
Multiple publishers: Hynes, Samuel. The Auden Generation: Literature and Politics in England in the 1930s. London: Bodley Head, 1976; New York: Viking: 1977.
Copublication: Pemble, John. The Mediterranean Passion: Victorians and Edwardians in the South. London: Clarendon Press / New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.
Selection from book: Kermode, Frank. "The English Novel, circa 1907," in his Essays on Fiction 1971–82. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983, pp. 45–56.
Davies, Tony. "Unfinished Business: Realism and Working-Class Writing," in The British Working-Class Novel in the Twentieth Century, edited by Jeremy Hawthorne. London: Arnold, 1984, pp. 20–35.
Dissertations and theses are treated like books, except that the title is in roman type and quotation marks. The word Dissertation or Thesis takes the place of the city of publication, and the university takes the place of the publisher: Johnson, George M. "The Early Influence of Second Wave Psychology on British Prose Fiction." Dissertation, McMaster University, 1990.
Periodical articles are cited as in entry rubrics, except for the inverted order of the author's name and the fact that the name is followed by a period rather than a comma: Martin, Peter. "The Short Story in England: 1930s Fiction Magazines," Studies in Short fiction, 14 (Summer 1977): 233–240.