The Lord Provost's wife has no title. Mayor...... Officers in the Army and Navy.

Doctor...

The Hon. Mr. Justice, &c.

Your Lord

Your Lady

Refer to as

name.

name.

THE ordinary reader finds two main difficulties in using a big library. In the first place, he is often uncertain about the actual books he wants to read, and secondly, after deciding what books to read, he sometimes finds it difficult to obtain them. The first difficulty may very often be solved by the help of bibliographies; the second is due either to deficiencies in the cataloguing of the library, or else to the reader's ignorance of how to use a catalogue.

Catalogues of books may be arranged on many different principles. The most usual are the author catalogue and the subject catalogue. The author catalogue is probably the most simple to use and the most satisfactory for the general reader, but it has the disadvantage of being useless in cases where the author of a book is not known. The catalogue is arranged alphabetically under the names of the authors, so that one has only to consult it as one consults a dictionary, until the name is

found. Under the name of each author will be found all his books which are contained in the library, usually arranged in alphabetical order. In consulting such a catalogue in a big library, it is often very useful to be certain about the initials of the author as well as his name; there may be pages of entries of books by different authors who all have the same surname. Thus, for instance, in looking for a book by Thomas Campbell, unless one remembered the first name one might have to read through all the Campbells whose first names began with letters from A to T, as authors with the same name are, in most catalogues, arranged alphabetically according to their Christian names. Otherwise, if authors of the same name are catalogued without any special order, one has to look through the whole list.

In the case of a book originally written by one man and edited by another, it is usual to catalogue it under the name of the

writer, but in many cases it is also found under the editor's name. Thus Jowett's edition of Plato will in most libraries be found under both Plato and Jowett. In the case of less important editions of texts and authors, however, the editor's name is often not catalogued, or is simply given with a cross-reference to the author or authors he has edited.

There is thus no difficulty in getting a book by means of the author catalogue, provided the name of the author is known. Where that is not the case, one has either to consult a subject catalogue, if there be one, or a bibliography. Most libraries have a subject catalogue; many have an author and subject catalogue combined. The subject catalogue differs greatly in character. In some cases books are classified under very wide headings-such as Literature; Language, English; Languages, Foreign; Art; Law; Science, &c.-and the different books in these classes are either arranged according to another sub-classification or merely alphabetically. Thus Literature might be divided again into Prose, Poetry, Drama, Religious Literature, though many of these classes would naturally overlap. It is obvious that subject catalogues of this type are very inconvenient to use, and fortunately they are not now very common.

The most useful subject catalogue is arranged exactly like a dictionary, with the title of each separate book in the library entered in alphabetical order. Books whose titles begin with A, An, The, are of course entered under the second word of their title. This type of catalogue is generally called a title catalogue. To a certain extent it has the same disadvantages as the author catalogue-namely, that unless one actually knows the exact title of the book it is difficult to use. But, on the other hand, the title of a book is usually the same as its subject, so that if one looks under the name of the subject dealt with in the book one is likely to find the particular book required.

In many catalogues there is a combination of the three kinds of catalogues mentioned above-author, subject, and title. This is only practicable in comparatively small libraries, and in big libraries there is usually one or more of the separate catalogues.

In libraries which are not provided with a subject catalogue, or if one wishes to discover all the books available on any particular subject, it is necessary to consult a bibliography or list of books of that particular subject. Bibliographies of most subjects exist, and differ very greatly in value. It is obvious that, other things being equal, the more recent the bibliography the more complete it is. Many of the best

bibliographies are written in foreign languages, but there is no difficulty in consulting them, as the names of books are put down in the language in which they are written. A few of the chief bibliographies which are valuable for the student of English language and literature are the following: Dictionary of English Literature and British and American Authors; Poole's Index to Periodical Literature.

Lists of books appearing on English language in addition to literature are to be found in such periodicals as the Modern Language Review, Anglia and Englische Studien, and especially the annual Jahresbericht für die Sprachgebiete der Germanischen Sprachwissenschaft.

A number of publications are available containing lists of bibliographies of different subjects. The most important and recent are Courtney's Register of National Bibliography and Stein's Manuel de Bibliographie générale. The British Museum list of bibliographical works in the reading-room is also valuable.

HOW TO USE A DICTIONARY

Dictionaries are used either in the study of one's native language or of a foreign language. English dictionaries are used for two purposes: first, to discover the meaning of words; and secondly, to ascertain their pronunciation. As a guide to pronunciation, a dictionary is often quite valuable, but it has two disadvantages. It is usually not provided with any adequate or scientific method of representing pronunciation, and consequently many of its attempts to show how a word is pronounced are incorrect, or at least inexact. Such a dictionary as the Oxford English Dictionary, in which the pronunciation of each word is transcribed in phonetic script on a perfectly scientific and logical system, is, of course, a notable exception. Another disadvantage, and probably a more serious one, is that a dictionary can only represent the pronunciation current at the time at which it is compiled. The spoken language is continually changing, and the pronunciation of many words is very different in one generation from what it was in the preceding. Hence a dictionary pronunciation very rapidly becomes obsolete, and no longer represents the actual facts of speech. This disadvantage of the dictionary as a guide to pronunciation is, of course, much greater when the editor of a dictionary obtains his information, as he sometimes does, from a still older dictionary.

The value of a dictionary in explaining the meaning of unfamiliar words and phrases

is obvious. In many cases several equivalents or slightly different explanations are given for the same word. In such cases the particular meaning required is determined by the context in which the word occurs. At the same time, the other possible meanings ought to be noted, so that when the word appears in another context one may be able to ascertain its meaning without any more trouble. A dictionary of words not arranged in the ordinary alphabetical order, but according to ideas and subjects, is very valuable for many purposes. Such a compilation exists in Rogets' Thesaurus. It is particularly valuable in cases where it is difficult to hit on the exact word one needs to express a meaning. In such a case one has only to refer to a word of a similar meaning, and one finds grouped together all the words denoting the idea or thing in question. It also gives words with the opposite meaning, and words in which the meaning is altered by the addition of prefixes or suffixes to show different relations. Thus under clean, in addition to the words expressing the same sort of meaning as clean, we should find words expressing ideas similar to dirty, and also cleanly, cleanliness, &c. It thus acts as a dictionary, because in the case of an unfamiliar word its meaning is shown by the words with similar meanings grouped round it, and as a collection of words arranged according to subjects.

Dictionaries of foreign languages are used either in reading works in such languages or in translating from one language into another. It is a good general principle, especially in reading a language, to use a dictionary as little as possible as soon as the reader knows the language well enough to enable him to get the sense of what is read. Even if a specific word is unfamiliar, one can usually guess its meaning from the context. If that is not possible, or confirmation of the meaning is felt to be necessary, the dictionary may be consulted, but it is always advisable first to try to ascertain the meaning without doing this. It is a very bad habit to consult a dictionary immediately a new word occurs, without trying in some other way to puzzle out its meaning. Of course it is possible to make a wrong guess at the meaning of a word,

but this can be remedied either by subsequent reference to a dictionary or by the reappearance of the word in another context, which shows that the meaning formerly assigned to it was impossible. Such mistakes and the correcting of them always help in fixing the meaning of the word in one's mind.

When reference is actually made to a dictionary, it will be found that in many cases a word has a number of meanings, often differing widely from each other. A good dictionary does not confine itself to giving a list of such meanings, but adds sentences or phrases in which they are illustrated, sometimes with a reference to the sources from which the sentences are taken. In such cases it is a very good plan to make a list of these sentences, arranged with the more general meanings first, and to keep them in a note-book and add further examples that occur in one's own reading. In addition one might add the words and expressions related in form to the word in question, and idioms in which it is contained. Thus the French word coup, which has the primary meaning of a stroke, but which may also mean, among other things, a blow, stab, thrust, lash, clap, charge, move, shot, time, trick, event, deed, act, &c., should be noted, with sentences to show some of these meanings. Then one ought to examine the verb couper, primarily to cut, but also with almost as great a variety of meanings as coup, and in addition such phrases as coup de pied (kick), d'un seul coup (at one swoop), pour le coup (at, upon this), ought to be noted. Similarly with German Zug, which means a tug or pull originally, and can also mean a procession, expedition, stroke, touch, team, rifles, attraction, sympathy; and the verb ziehen (to pull, tug, educate, cultivate, feel attracted, &c. &c.).

It is obvious that in such cases a mere list of meanings is practically useless, and it is essential to have concrete examples of phrases in which such meanings occur. The ordinary small dictionary cannot be expected to give these fully, as to do so would increase its size enormously, and so the dictionary ought to be supplemented by some sort of phrase-book, which should be used continuously and added to from one's own private reading.

THE following hints refer to preparing copy for the printers, correcting proofs, &c., and much of this affects the important question of " Author's Corrections." There is no more fruitful source of annoyance and dispute than these "Author's Corrections." The charge for them is invariably considered unsatisfactory. On the one hand, authors make many more corrections than they think they do, and their corrections often involve more work than appears on the surface; on the other hand, unfair charges are very often made by unscrupulous printers. It is most advisable to engage the services of a thoroughly respectable printer, even if his charges are a trifle higher than those of a less dependable firm.

The manuscript should be prepared as nearly as possible as it is intended finally to appear in print. Authors should say how far they desire their copy to be followed with regard to capitals, punctuation, spelling, &c., or if they prefer to leave these details to the printer's convention. From the printer's point of view, authors do not, as a rule, take sufficient pains in preparing their manuscript for the press, but leave a great deal to be altered when the matter is in type. This, of course, means charges for Author's Corrections." Authors feel it so much easier to make corrections in a printed proof than in the manuscript. This is so; but it must be remembered that such corrections have to be paid for.

PRINTER'S TECHNICAL TERMS Broadside.—A sheet of paper not folded, but printed as one page the whole size of the sheet. Composing.-Setting up the type ready for printing. The mechanic who does this is called a Compositor. Distributing.-Breaking up the type after the printing is done and returning each type to its proper box. This takes about one-third as long to do as the composing. Folio. The number of a page. The size of

a sheet of paper folded once, making two leaves or four pages. Forme.-When the make-up is complete, a

number of pages (generally sixteen or some multiple of sixteen) are brought together and locked up in an iron frame called a chase into one complete, rigid piece, ready to place on the machine. This is known as a forme, and from this the actual printing is done. Fount.-Types of the same size with the

proper proportions of the different letters, &c. (i.e. so many a's, so many, b's, &c.). Headline. The top line of a page, usually containing on the verso side the title of the book and the folio, and on the recto side the title of the chapter. Imposing-Arranging the pages on on the machine so that when printed and the sheet is folded the pages will come in

proper sequence.

Imprint. The name of the printer or publisher, or both, at the end of the publication and on the title-page.

Inset.-Pages that are sometimes printed as alterations or additions, after a publication has been printed, and inserted during the binding operations. Make-up. When the whole of the matter for a publication has been set up into type, it has to be arranged into pages of a uniform length. This is called the make-up.

Octavo (8vo).-Denotes a sheet of paper folded three times, making eight leaves or sixteen pages.

Proof. When the author's copy has been set up into type, a proof is printed from type and sent to the author. This proof is corrected by the author and returned to the printer, who makes the corrections. If necessary, a revised proof is sent to the author, who may ask for a second or third revise should he desire such (always remembering the cost of such procedure). When the author is finally satisfied with the proof he marks it press, and this is the press proof from which the publication is printed.

Quarto (4to).-Denotes a sheet of paper folded twice, making four leaves or eight pages.

Register. The printer has to put the type

for the different pages on the machine in the exact position that they should -print on the sheet, and in such a way that the pages on the opposite sides of the sheet should exactly back one another. This is called the register. Set off.-Sheets that are just printed some

times come in contact with other sheets, and the wet ink makes an impression on these other sheets. This is called a set off.

Signature. A sign (usually a letter or figure) on the first page of each sheet to show the binder the sequence of the sheets.