Aggravating ladies : Being a list of works published under the pseudonym of "a…
"Aggravating Ladies: Being a List of Works Published Under the Pseudonym of 'a Lady,' with Preliminary Suggestions on the Art of Describing Books Bibliographically" by Olphar Hamst is a bibliographical reference work from the late 19th century. The book explores the challenge of attributing and cataloguing works published anonymously or pseudonymously—specifically those authored by women using the generic credit "a lady." Alongside the extensive list, Hamst offers insightful guidance on establishing standards
for bibliographical description, highlighting the obstacles and importance of accuracy in cataloguing literature. The opening of "Aggravating Ladies" features a detailed preface in which the author explains his motivation for compiling the list, lamenting the stubborn anonymity of women writers who published under the evasive title "a lady." This section is followed by thorough preliminary remarks on cataloguing, which emphasize the necessity of systematic, accurate rules for describing books, and discuss distinctions between anonymous, pseudonymous, autonymous, and polyonymous works. The introductory chapters serve as both a critique and a methodological guide, exploring issues such as the importance of titles, author names, publication data, and physical format in bibliographic practice, while also addressing broader difficulties in tracing and correctly attributing literary works when authors opt for diffuse or concealed identities. The book then leads directly into its main attraction: a meticulously annotated and expansive list of such anonymous or pseudonymous titles. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Aggravating ladies : Being a list of works published under the pseudonym of "a lady," with preliminary suggestions on the art of describing books bibliographically
Original Publication
London: Bernard Quaritch, 1880.
Note
Reading ease score: 65.7 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read.
Credits
deaurider, Chris Hapka and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
