Volume 1

Dictionary of anonymous and pseudonymous English literature / Samuel Halkett and John Laing.

  • Samuel Halkett
Date:
1926-[1962]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dictionary of anonymous and pseudonymous English literature / Samuel Halkett and John Laing. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    (v) Many books have appeared under such initials as A.M. (Artium Magister) or O.P. (Old Playgoer), etc. Among the anonymous literature of the European War will be found books by D.S.O. (Distinguished Service Order), G.S.O. (General Staff Officer), F.O.O. (Forward Observation Officer), and the like. Attention may be further directed to two other classes of pseudonyms which, although they do not appear to be so, are the initials of the authors. Thus an Indian official (Edward Hamilton Aitken), not feeling disposed to divulge his name in full, put only his initials on his books; yet even these are not printed as E. H. A. but as EH A ; the chief of his works are The tribes on my frontier, Behind the bungalow, A naturalist on the prowl; or in the jungle. A gifted literary lady, born on the European Continent, and bearing the name of Therese Albertine Luise von Jakob, afterwards migrated to America where she married a Professor Robinson: she has published several works in English, History of the Colonisation of America, Historical view of the language of the Slavic nations, etc., under her initials, which, however, are not printed apart (T. A. L. V. J. or T. A. L. V. I.) but in the form TALVI. Near the middle of the seventeenth century, a period of keen controversy in this country regarding Church government and worship, there was published a notable work, “An Answer to a booke [by Bishop foseph Hall] entituled, An humble remonstrance, in which the origi?iall of Liturgy [and] Episcopacy is discussed . . . written by Smectymnuus.” It was the combined production of five divines, Stephen Marshall, Edmund Calamy, Thomas Young, Matthew Newcomen and William Spur- stowe, whose initials were arranged in the order now given, without any punctuation. The other way is by forming from the initials a pseudonym designed to represent the pronunciation, in succession, of each letter: here, again, a few examples will best illustrate the process. The form “ Aitiache ” [Ai-ti-ache], represents “ A. T. H.,” derived from Annie T. Howells, the writer of Popular saymgs (1877): and “Effessea” [Eff-es-sea] gives the pronunciation of “ F. S. C.” i.e., Francis Sewell Cole, who wrote Oceanica (1871); “Arrelsee” [Arr-el-see] is the equivalent of “ R. L. C.,” Robert L. Cope, who is credited with The Life, confession, and adventures of Albert Teufel (1867). The practice of writers who have made use of more than one pseudonym should be recorded. In the earlier years of the nineteenth century, Sir Richard Phillip issued elementary educational works in English and French, under such fictitious names as “ Rev. David Blair ” (.A grammar of Chemistry, A grammar of the English language, First lines of arithmetic, etc.), and others under the names of “ Rev. J. Gold¬ smith” ( Geography illustrated on a popular plan, The biographical class- book), “ S. Barrow ” (A popular dictionary of facts and knowledge, etc.),