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CATALOGING BELLES-LETTRES WORKSHOP
I.
Introduction
What is belles-lettres? Literature written for its own sake, not purely
informative or factual. “Works of the imagination.” If the work is not meant
chiefly to inform, but rather to please the aesthetic sense, it’s probably belleslettres. Synonym: literary works.
What forms does it take? Chiefly three: fiction (novels and short stories),
poetry, and drama. Occasionally prose essays of a very speculative or general
nature can be considered belles-lettres.
II.
Descriptive cataloging issues
A. Collective uniform titles
LCRI25.9 states that the collective uniform title “Selections” should be
applied to “partial collections of three or more works in two or more forms
when the author writes in two or more forms” and “partial collections of
three or more works in one form when the author writes in only one
form.” The second condition is limited to well-established authors “whose
works are known to exist in only one form.” Example of an author who
wrote in only one form:
Poetical works of Edmund Spenser, 1855, gets the U.T.:
Spenser, Edmund, $d 1552?-1599. $t Selections. $f 1855
Current authors are assumed to write in more than one form:
Tom Stoppard’s Complete plays, 2009, gets the U.T.:
Stoppard, Tom. $t Plays
Many of the collective uniform titles listed in rule 25.10 apply specifically
to literary works: Novels, Plays, Poems, Short stories. These should only
be applied when the author writes in two or more forms (assumed for
current authors) and the title is indistinctive, as defined in RI25.10.
B. Sequels. Works by a single author issued in a series.
A “sequel” is defined in AACR2 as “a literary work that is complete in
itself but continues an earlier work.” Such works will almost always be
cataloged separately. Thus Tolkien’s The two towers is not a sequel to The
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fellowship of the ring because it cannot be read separately and will most
often be cataloged as part of a bookset. But Trollope’s Barchester towers
is a sequel to The warden because it is complete in itself and will most
often be cataloged separately. When cataloging Barchester towers you
may add a note (rule 2.7B7): “Sequel to: The warden.” This note is
optional and only really called for when the work in hand mentions earlier
or later works (For the latter, use the note: “Continued by:”).
Well-established series of novels, such as Trollope’s Chronicles of
Barsetshire, are frequently issued together by a publisher with a series-like
phrase, e.g., “The second volume of Trollope’s Chronicles of Barsetshire”.
In such cases, create a personal author series:
800 1 Trollope, Anthony, $d 1815-1882. $t Chronicles of Barsetshire ;
$v vol. 2.
Such a numbered series eliminates the need for notes about sequels. If the
series is unnumbered, a note would be helpful.
III.
Subject cataloging
A. Subject headings
1. Subject analysis of literary works is largely optional. Excellent
guidance can be found in the Subject cataloging manual: Subject
headings (sections H1780, H1790, and H1800). LC has
traditionally limited its subject analysis of individual works of
fiction to biographical and historical works but has recently
expanded its subject analysis of fiction to include characters,
settings, and topics.
PRINCETON PRACTICE: For member copy, accept subject
analysis as is, if the subjects validate. For original cataloging,
use judgment.
The question then arises as to how deep to go into a work to
determine these aspects. LC’s guideline is that such aspects
should “come readily to mind after a superficial review” of the
item. Information should be gleaned from prominent locations
such as the covers, title, series, dust jacket, etc. Brief guidelines
on these aspects:
Characters: Characters that are featured prominently in a work of
belles-lettres may be real (e.g., Abraham Lincoln) or imaginary
(e.g., Sherlock Holmes). In the former case, use the established
heading for the person subdivided by one of the form
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subdivisions listed below in section 2. In the latter case, the
imaginary character must be established as a topical subject
heading, with the parenthetical phrase “Fictitious character”
added:
650 0 Holmes, Sherlock (Fictitious character)
Generally, fictitious characters will only be established if they
appear in three or more works. Subdivide by one of the form
subdivision listed below in section 2.
Settings: Understand setting to include time periods or events as
well as places. Time periods should only be brought out if they
are quite significant and obvious. Example: a novel called The
first settlers of Virginia might get the subject heading:
651 0 Virginia$xHistory$yColonial period, ca. 16001775$vFiction.
Events should be brought out in the same manner. Example: a
play called Voices from September 11th would get the subject
heading:
650 0 September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001$vDrama.
Places are more problematic. Do not routinely bring out the place
in which a literary work takes place unless it is clearly significant,
that is has an impact on the theme of the work; e.g., Michener’s
Hawaii cries out for a heading like Hawaii$vFiction. But if a
publisher’s blurb states something like “After moving to
Cleveland, Ohio, Blaine’s father loses his job, causing Blaine to
suffer ridicule at school …” do not add a heading for Cleveland
as the setting of the work since it does not seem to contribute
anything to the theme other than its geographic location.
Topics: Again, bring out the topic of a literary work if it is
apparent after a cursory perusal. Obviously, a work called
Doggerel : poems about dogs should get the heading
Dogs$vPoetry. But if the topic is not obvious from the title page,
check the covers, where publishers’ blurbs or reviewers’
comments may give a clue as to any dominant themes covered in
the work.
2. Form subdivisions. There are four basic form subdivisions to be
appended to subject headings for works of belles-lettres:
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$vDrama
$vFiction (for novels and short stories)
$vLiterary collections (for collections in two or more forms)
$vPoetry
B. Form or genre headings. Form headings are often assigned to literary
works, especially to collections. These headings serve to bring out such
concepts as nationality, genre, etc. Catalog users can thus easily locate
literary works of certain specific types.
1. Collections
a. Collections of texts by several authors. It is chiefly
for these types of works that form headings are
intended. Among the main concepts used for form
headings are:
Nationality
Genre
Time period
Language
Group of authors
e.g., Swiss literature
e.g., One-act plays
e.g., English drama--19th
century
e.g., Short stories, Catalan
e.g., Prisoners’ writings
Form is normally combined with nationality or
language in a phrase heading (American poetry).
Subdivisions are used to express time period (see
above), translations (Navajo poetry—Translations
into Icelandic), and locality (Korean literature—
Idaho).
b. Collections of texts by one author. Use of form
headings is much more restricted. “Genre may be
shown if highly specific and emphasized in the
work.” For example Asimov’s Sherlockian limericks
would get the form heading Limericks. Nationality
or language is expressed only if combined with
genre in a phrase heading, e.g., Sonnets, American.
2. Individual works: Use of form headings is restricted to highly
specific forms, e.g., One-act plays, Dime novels, etc. No other
concepts from those listed in section 1.a are expressed.
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IV.
Classification
A. All belles-lettres is classified in the P section. It is classified by language,
not nationality (except for the literature of the United States). Within each
language, there is a range devoted to authors writing in countries outside
the country most commonly associated with that language. For example,
French literature written in Canada is classed in a section of the PQ
schedule apart from that devoted to French literature of France. Within a
language range, it is further divided by time period. Within a time period,
it is further divided by author’s surname. Each author is given one (or
more, if he/she writes in more than one language) literary author number,
to which all his/her literary works are assigned. Thus constructing a
literary author number is very systematic.
For example, how would we create a number for D.H. Lawrence?
First, we find the author’s language, in this case English. That puts him in
the subclass PR (If he were an American, it would be PS)
Second, we find the author’s time period. The first part of the PR subclass
(PR1-981) is devoted to critical works on English literature. Next comes
Collections of English literature (PR1098-1369). Since we want a number
for a particular author, not for a collection, we move down to the
appropriate time period, 1900-1960 (PR6000-6049).
Third, we find the number for works by authors whose surname begins
with the letter L, i.e., PR6023. As is noted at the beginning of the 19001960 time period, “The author number is determined by the second letter
of the name.” So we now have the number PR6023.A. At this point, if the
author’s name were not already established, we would add digits based on
the next letters in the author’s surname in order to fit the author into our
shelflist alphabetically.
053: Many authority records for literary authors show that author’s
established number in an 053 field. This is extremely helpful to future
catalogers of that person’s work since it eliminates the need to search for
or create a literary author number. If you are establishing a heading for a
literary author, please follow the instructions in our documentation at:
(http://infoshare1.Princeton.EDU/katmandu/cp20/053field.html) This is
your civic duty! Also, please follow Princeton’s procedure for finding and
assigning literary author numbers (appended).
B. Tables in general: Literary authors’ call numbers are arranged in the LC
classification system by tables. The tables tell us how to arrange the
author’s works and works about the author. There are many such tables in
the Language and literature tables volume of the classification schedule.
Some authors have one entire class number devoted to them—some have
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two, some have 49. The classification schedule usually indicates which
table should be applied, either at the beginning of a section on a time
period, or under an individually named author, such as Lawrence.
C. Table XL: By far the most commonly used table for literary authors is
Table XL. This table is applied to most authors writing after 1900. In the
table, the “x” stands for the literary author number, which in this case is
the class number plus the first cutter number (based on the author’s
surname). For D.H. Lawrence, the literary author number is PR6023.A93.
The table shows us how to arrange collections of the author’s works,
selections, individual works, and biographical and critical works about the
author. Examples:
Complete works of D.H. Lawrence
(no editor given)
PR6023.A93 2000
Complete works of D.H. Lawrence
(edited by Morrison)
PR6023.A93 A12 2000
Complete poetry of D.H. Lawrence
PR6023.A93 A17 2000
[Selections of Lawrence’s works in
German] (no translator given)
PR6023.A93 A4 2000
[Selections of Lawrence’s works in
German] (translated by Jones)
PR6023.A93 A44 2000
Four short novels of D.H. Lawrence
PR6023.A93 A6 2000
The rainbow
PR6023.A93 R3 2000
[The rainbow translated into Spanish]
PR6023.A93 R318 2000
Note that individual works whose titles begin with the letter A or Z need to
be squeezed into a limited space to accommodate portions of the table. Thus a
work entitled Adventures in babysitting, which might get a cutter number
of .A3, needs a cutter number greater than .A6 to fit into the “Separate works”
section of Table XL. Otherwise the cutter .A3 would put the work with
collected French translations! The following table provides a guide for
cuttering works beginning with the letter A; there is no such guide for Z.
Aa-af
Ag-al
Am-ar
As-az
A6-699
A7-799
A8-899
A9-999
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V.
Resources
A. Descriptive cataloging issues: AACR2 and LCRI for 25.9 and 25.10.
B. Subject cataloging: Subject cataloging manual: Subject headings sections
H1775 (literature in general), H1780 (drama), H1790 (fiction), H1800
(poetry).
C. Classification: Subject cataloging manual:Classification sections F632
(literary author numbers), F633 (subarrangement of works), F634 (literary
collections).
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QUIZ
Subject cataloging
For the following books, supply any 6xx field you deem necessary. Remember to
consider subject headings, form subdivisions, and form or genre headings.
1. Author: Kilodney, Crad.
Title: A pain in the gut : a play / by Crad Kilodney.
Note on p. 4 of cover: “A hilarious play in which all the characters suffer from
indigestion.”
6xx’s:
2. Author: Kilodney, Crad
Title: The upset stomach plays of Crad Kilodney : three plays on indigestion.
6xx’s:
3. Title: Belly laughs : 12 modern American plays on indigestion.
On cover: “A dirty dozen plays from the last half of the 20th century.”
6xx’s:
4. Author: Garrison, Jim.
Title: Elementary, my dear Mr. Warren : a Sherlock Holmes fantasy.
On cover: “In this imaginative novel, the great detective goes ‘back to the
future’ to solve the greatest mystery of the 20th century—who killed JFK?”
6xx’s:
Classification
5. An Italian poet writes a collection of poems in German. Is this classified with
Italian or with German literature?
6. Give the complete call number for a 1998 collection of three plays by D.H.
Lawrence, translated into French by Crad Kilodney.