How to Make an Index

ood I

im that 'he shall gather together and reduce the same [the Bookes] into Indices, Tables or Kalendars, w

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ne

en

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ell the difficulties ever present to the indexer; and the most successful will conf

part of the indexer would have made good. If the medium indexer felt that indexing was work that must be

the labours of the diligent indexer very high

this most painful, but least praised part of a publication. But laborious as it is, I think it is indispensably necessary to manifest the

Queries, 2nd

Monthly Review which have been quoted by Dr. Allibone

ol. i.

but with more truth it may be said that this is the judgment of the idle and the shallow. The value of anything, it has been observed, is best known by the want of it. Agreeably to this idea, we, who have often experienced great inconveniences from the want of indices, entertain the highest sense

n of an elaborate index to Gruter's Thesaurus Inscriptionum. Bibliographers have been unanimous in praise of the energy exhibited by the great critic in undertaking so vast a labour. Antonio describes the

hat at first sight may seem to give cause for ridicule, for they appear in an alphabet of Christian names; but when we consider that the Spaniards and Portuguese stand alone among European nations in respect to the importance they pay to the Christian name, and remember, further, that authors and others are often alluded to by their Christian names alone, we shall see a

very curious and valuable table which forms the fifth volume of the whole set; and the three fol

hmetical Books, saying: "Those who know the value of a large book with a good index will pick this one up when they can." He praises it on account of the value of the information it contains and the fulness of the references to tha

a, when dr

t at Rye had an interest

emorandum entered that the year old Winchelse

publication in 1874 of a separate index to the people's edition of his Works. In his introduction

yet edited,-edited as you edit wagon-loads of broken bricks, and dry mortar simply by tumbling up the wagon! Not one of those monstrous old volum

Macaulay made the index to a volume of the Christian Observer (of which periodical his

h I have had the honour of composing. Index-making, though the lowest, is not the most useless round in the ladder of literature; and I pride myself upon being able to say that t

describing the appearance of those who followed the lowest grade in the literary profession. The late Mr. H. Campkin, a veteran indexer, qu

uses of the Dryden and Swift era. Yet ''tis my vocation, Hal,' and [F1: `'tis?] into very pleasant companionship it has sometimes brought me, and if in this probably the last of my twenty-five years' labours in

ds what the author may have hidden in verbiage, and he can so arrange his materials as to turn an author's own words against himself. Hence Macaulay wrote to his publishers, "Let no d--

Debt. These are heads to which readers who wish for information on these subject will naturally turn. But I think that Mr. -- will on consideration perceive that such heads as Priestcraft, Priesthood, Party spirit, Insurrection, War, Bible, Crown, Controversies, Dissent, are quite useless. Nobody will ever look

ife and Letters of

possibility of a good and full index such as might have been produced. The History of England, with all its wealth of picturesque i

ut an index, and Mr. Perceval Clark made an admirable one, both full and interesti

lays no claim to be considered an exhaustive bibliography of his works. The books Macaulay read that were 'mostly trash' have their places in the body of the Index, while those that stood by him in all vicissitudes as comforters, nurses, and companions, have half a page to them

would like to see of

lar edition of the Life publi

nt Departments there are those in power who know the value of a good digest, and understand that it is necessary to employ skilled labour. The work

￡12,000 was voted for indexes to the Journals of the House of Commons shows that the value of

s labour; Rev. Mr. Forster ￡3000 for nine years' labour; Rev. Dr. Ro

he Master of the Rolls, which have made available to all a mass of historical material of unrivalled value. How many students have been gratefu

of the Realm, the folio edition published by the Record Commission. I have often consulted the Alphabetical Index to the Statutes fro

de. They have done much, but there is still much to be done. Lord Thring drew up some masterly instructions for an index t

shed is to prepare a detailed plan for a code, as distinct from the easy task of devising a theoretical system of codification. Now the preparation of an index, such as has been suggested in the above instructions, is the preparation of a de

proposed index, are printed in the Law Magazi

the lawyer only, may be seen from an article in the Nineteenth Century (September, 1877) on the "Improvement of the Law by P

at nothing but the rearrangement and condensation of the vast masses of matter contained in our law libraries is required, in order to add to human knowledge what would be practically a new department of the highest and most permanent interest. Law holds in suspension both the logic and the ethics, which are in fact recognised by men of business and men of t

h equal force to a more general and

effectively work together. Any given subject may, it is true, be dealt with in a variety of different ways; but when the general scheme, according to which it is to be treated, has been determine

ooks and other series of old reports, which from the language used in them and the black-letter printing with its contractions, etc., are practically inaccessible. Lord Chief Justice Coke and others who r

wring. The Analytical Index to the Works of Jeremy Bentham and to the Memoirs and Correspondence was comp

been made to do more than indicate the place where the subject is discussed. In other cases where it has appeared to the compiler that an intelligible analysis has been made

to the literary index that we turn

ok, especially to Ruskin admirers. There are some specially delightful original

miles outside of, demo

sses compare unfa

blue sky

after Christ's n

st journal

ould they be without

ntries are set out in single lines under the headings in the successive order of the pages. This looks unsystematic, as the

ntries commencing w

Geo

3

s

nover

3

Sq

nover

3

s

sch

mes

el at V

op of the page, but the headings are not sufficiently full: thus the sa

3

Saints

ry

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e thinks good for pe

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rt of for

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3

good girl f

these pages you have to go back to pa

d block of references fill

rayer vital to a nation, 7.22; Ma

esting index should be thu

rk, and may be considered as a model of what an index should be; for compilation, arrangement, and printing all are good. Un

consists of "Dicta Philosophi: A

rites in h

ed together almost all the references to those subjects. The provincial towns of France, however, by some mistake I did not include in the general article. One important but intentional omission I must justify. In the case of the quotations in which my notes abound I have not thought it needful in the Index to refer to the book unless the eminence of the author required a separate and a second entry. My labour would have been increased beyond all endurance and my Index have been swollen almost into a monstrosity had I always referred to the book as well as to the matter which was contained in the passage that I extracted. Though in such a variety of subjects there must be many omissions, yet I shall be greatly disappointed if actual errors are discovered. Every entry I

indescribable literary air breathes over every page, and gives distinction to the whole. The index volume of the Life is by no means the least interesting of the set, and one instinctively

the man who uses it is able to pose as a student, appearing to know as much as he who knows his Boswell by heart; but this is somewhat of a joke, for no useful information can be gained unless the

characteristic signs of its origin. Mr. Percy Fitzgerald, in his edition (1874),

futation of her levelling reveries'; and after that of Hawkins he put 'contradicted and corrected.' There are also various little compliments introduced where previously he had merely given the name. Such as 'Temple, Mr., the author's old and most intimate friend'; 'Vilette, Reverend Mr., his just claims on the publick'; 'Smith, Captain, his attention to Johnson at Warley Camp'; 'Somerville, Mr., the authour's warm and grateful remembrance of him'; 'Hall, General

and since I made an index to Shelley's works, I have often thought t

s in reviews and other books. How valuable would such books be in the study of our greatest poets! The pla

the society which is sought after, as the books themselves are a drug in the market. Mr. Gough was employed to make an index to the publications of the Camden Society, which would have been of still more value on account of the much greater interest of the books indexed; but the expense of printing the

h prices they realise when they occur for sale. Mr. Tedder's full indexes to the Repo

k can be seen in the "Index to the first ten volumes of Book Prices Current (1887-1896), constituting a r

e dates of the distinctive editions clearly indicated. The compilation of this index must have bee

self; but a revised index was issued in 1897, which is a greatly improved edition by the addition of dates and fuller descriptions and Christian names and titles to the persons mentioned. The new index is substantially the same as the old one, but the

ex. New

ower House see Co

." "Window tax, im

de." "Witt,

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eviews that the indexer is born, not made, and that the present writer said: "An ideal indexer needs many qualifications;

the necessary qualities innate in him, and then he requires to have those qualities turned to a practical point

garded as nothing more than purely mechanical copying that any hack may do. So long as indexing and cataloguing are treated with contempt rather than as arts

riodical Literature

hat are required to form a good indexer? I

mmon-

o the meaning

r of an

so that the indexer may put the references he has drawn from t

with the power of ov

by him will be found to be helpful when least expected. It may seem absurd to make out that the good indexer should be a sort of Admirable Crichton. There can be no doubt,

from school he commenced his career by making the catalogue of one of the parts of the great Heber Catalogue. He planned and made one of the earliest of indexes to a library catalogue-that of the Athen?um Club. He made one of the best of indexes to the transactions of a society in that of the Statistica