How to Make an Index

CHAPTER IV.
The Good Indexer

"Thomas Norton was appointed Remembrancer of the city of London in 1570, and directions were given to him that 'he shall gather together and reduce the same [the Bookes] into Indices, Tables or Kalendars, whereby they may be more easily, readily and orderly founde.'"—Analytical Index to "Remembrancia," p. v.

THE acrostic

I  I

N  never

D  did

E  ensure

X  exactness

made by a contributor to Notes and Queries as a motto for an index expresses very well the difficulties ever present to the indexer; and the most successful will confess the truth that it contains, however much others may consider his work to be good.

There are many indexes which are only of partial merit, but which a little more care and experience on the part of the indexer would have made good. If the medium indexer felt that indexing was work that must be done to the best of his ability, and he studied the best examples, he would gradually become a good indexer.

The famous bibliographer, William Oldys, rated the labours of the diligent indexer very highly, and expressed his views very clearly thus:

"The labour and patience, the judgment and penetration which are required to make a good index is only known to those who have gone through this most painful, but least praised part of a publication. But laborious as it is, I think it is indispensably necessary to manifest the treasures of any multifarious collection, facilitate the knowledge to those who seek it, and invite them to make application thereof."¹²

Similar sentiments were expressed by a writer in the Monthly Review which have been quoted by Dr. Allibone in his valuable Dictionary of English Literature.¹³

"The compilation of an index is one of those useful labours for which the public, commonly better pleased with entertainment than with real service, are rarely so forward to express their gratitude as we think they ought to be. It has been considered a task fit only for the plodding and the dull: 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 of their worth and importance. We know that in the construction of a good index, there is far more scope for the exercise of judgment and abilities, than is commonly supposed. We feel the merits of the compiler of such an index, and we are ever ready to testify our thankfulness for his exertions."

A goodly roll may be drawn up of eminent men who have not been ashamed to appear before the world as indexers. In the first rank we must place the younger Scaliger, who devoted ten months on the compilation 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 index as a Herculean work, and LeClerc observes that if we think it surprising that so great a man should undertake so laborious a task we must remember that such indexes can only be made by a very able man.

Nicolas Antonio, the compiler of one of the fullest and most accurate bibliographies ever planned, was a connoisseur of indexes, and wrote a short essay on the makers of them. His Bibliotheca Hispana is not known so well as it deserves to be, but those who use it find it one of the most trustworthy of guides. The system upon which the authors' names are arranged is one that 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 valid reason for the plan. Another point that should not be forgotten is the number of Spanish authors who have belonged to the religious orders and are never known by their surnames. This arrangement, however, necessitates a full index of surnames, and Antonio has given one which was highly praised both by Baillet and Bayle, two men who were well able to form an opinion.

Juan de Pineda's Monarchia Ecclesiastica o historia Universal del Mundo (Salamanca, 1588) has a very curious and valuable table which forms the fifth volume of the whole set; and the three folio volumes of indexes in one alphabet to the Annales Ecclesiastici of Baronius form a noble work.

Samuel Jeake, senior, compiled a valuable work on "Arithmetick" in 1674, which was published by his son in 1696: Λογιστικηλογια; or, Arithmetick Surveighed and Reviewed. Professor De Morgan specially refers to this book in his Arithmetical 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 that information. The alphabetical table, directing to some special points noted in the precedent treatise, was probably the work of Samuel Jeake, junior. The author's epistle is dated from Rye, 1674, and one of the entries is curious:

"Winchelsea, when drowned 74."

S. Jeake being a resident at Rye had an interesting note to add to this:

"Among the records of this town of Rye is a Memorandum entered that the year old Winchelsea was drowned (1287) corn was 2s. the quarter."

Thomas Carlyle denounced the putters forth of indexless books, and his sincerity is proved by the publication in 1874 of a separate index to the people's edition of his Works. In his introduction to Cromwell's Letters and Speeches he is very severe on some of the old folios he was forced to use:

"The Rushworths, Whitelocks, Nalsons, Thurloes; enormous folios, these and many other have been printed and some of them again printed but never 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 volumes has so much as an index. It is the general rule of editing on this matter. If your editor correct the press, it is an honourable distinction."

A very eminent name may be added to the list of indexers, for, when a boy of fifteen, Macaulay made the index to a volume of the Christian Observer (of which periodical his father was editor), and this he introduced to the notice of Hannah More in these words:

"To add to the list, my dear Madam, you will soon see a work of mine in print. Do not be frightened; it is only the Index to the thirteenth volume of the Christian Observer, which 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 there are many readers of the Christian Observer who could do without Walter Scott's works, but not without those of, my dear Madam, your affectionate friend, Thomas B. Macaulay."

Although proud of his work, Macaulay places index-making in a very low position. In later life he used a contemptuous expression when he was describing the appearance of those who followed the lowest grade in the literary profession. The late Mr. H. Campkin, a veteran indexer, quotes this description in the preface to one of his valuable indexes—that to the twenty-five volumes of the Sussex Archæological Collections:

"The compilation of Indexes will always and naturally so, be regarded as a humble art; 'index-makers in ragged coats of frieze' are classed by Lord Macaulay as the very lowest of the frequenters of the coffee houses 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 this direction, I have succeeded in furnishing a fairly practicable key to a valuable set of volumes, my frieze coat, how tattered soever signifieth not, will continue to hang upon my shoulders not uncomfortably."

Though he did not rate highly the calling of the indexer, Macaulay knew that that lowly mortal has a considerable power in his hand if he chooses to use it, for he can state in a few words 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– Tory make the index to my History." When the index was in progress he appears to have seen the draught, which was fuller than he thought necessary. He therefore wrote to Messrs. Longmans:

"I am very unwilling to seem captious about such a work as an Index. By all means let Mr. – go on. But offer him with all delicacy and courtesy, from me this suggestion. I would advise him to have very few heads, except proper names. A few there must be, such as Convocation, Nonjurors, Bank of England, National 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 for them; and if every passage in which party-spirit, dissent, the art of war, and the power of the Crown are mentioned, is to be noticed in the Index, the size of the volumes will be doubled. The best rule is to keep close to proper names, and never to deviate from that rule without some special occasion."¹⁴

These remarks exhibit Macaulay's eminently common-sense view of the value of an index, but it is evident that he did not realise the possibility of a good and full index such as might have been produced. The History of England, with all its wealth of picturesque illustration, deserves a full index compiled by some one capable of exhibiting the spirit of that great work in a brilliant analysis.

Sir George Trevelyan's delightful Life of his uncle was originally published without an index, and Mr. Perceval Clark made an admirable one, both full and interesting, which was issued by the Index Society in 1881. Mr. Clark writes in his preface:

"The single heading Macaulay of course takes up a large space of the Index, and will be found, together with a few other headings, to contain everything directly touching him. The list of his published writings refers of course only to writings mentioned by his Biographer, and 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 themselves under one of the sections of Macaulay. The particulars of his life and work in India are given under India; localities in London under London; various newspapers under Newspapers, and certain French and Italian towns visited by Macaulay under their countries respectively."

Just such an index one would like to see of the History of England.

It may be added that the popular edition of the Life published subsequently has an index.

A large number of official indexes are excellent, although some very bad ones have been printed. Still, it may be generally stated that in Government 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 is well paid, and therefore not scamped; and plenty of room is devoted to the index, which is printed in a satisfactory manner in type well set out.

We have no modern statistics to offer, but the often quoted statement that in 1778 a total of £12,000 was voted for indexes to the Journals of the House of Commons shows that the value of indexes was appreciated by Parliament in the eighteenth century. The items of this amount were:

"To Mr. Edward Moore £6400 as a final compensation for thirteen years labour; Rev. Mr. Forster £3000 for nine years' labour; Rev. Dr. Roger Flaxman £3000 for nine years' labour; and £500 to Mr. Cunningham."

One of the most admirable applications of index making is to be found in the series of Calendars of State Papers issued under the sanction of the Master of the Rolls, which have made available to all a mass of historical material of unrivalled value. How many students have been grateful for the indexes to these calendars, and also for the aid given to him by the indexes to Parliamentary papers and other Government publications!

It is impossible to mention all the good official indexes, but a special word of praise must be given to the indexes to the Statutes of the Realm, the folio edition published by the Record Commission. I have often consulted the Alphabetical Index to the Statutes from Magna Charta to the End of the Reign of Queen Anne (1824) with the greatest pleasure and profit. It is a model of good workmanship.

The lawyers have analytical minds, and they know how important full indexes and digests are to complete their stock-in-trade. They have done much, but there is still much to be done. Lord Thring drew up some masterly instructions for an index to the Statute Law, which is to be considered as a step towards a code. These instructions conclude with these weighty words:

"Let no man imagine that the construction of an index to the Statute Law is a mere piece of mechanical drudgery, unworthy of the energy and ability of an accomplished lawyer. Next to codification, the most difficult task that can be accomplished 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 detailed plan for a code. Each effective title, is in effect, a plan for the codification of the legal subject-matter grouped under that title, and the whole index if completed would be a summary of a code arranged in alphabetical order."¹⁵

That this question of digesting the law is to be considered as one which should interest all classes of Englishmen, and not the lawyer only, may be seen from an article in the Nineteenth Century (September, 1877) on the "Improvement of the Law by Private Enterprise," by the late Sir James Fitzjames Stephen, who did so much towards a complete digest of the law. He wrote:

"I have long believed that the law might by proper means be relieved of this extreme obscurity and intricacy, and might be displayed in its true light as a subject of study of the deepest possible interest, not only to every one who takes an interest in politics or ethics, or in the application of logic and metaphysics to those subjects. In short, I think that 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 the world as the standards by which the practice of common life ought to be regulated, and by which men ought to form their opinions in all their most important temporal affairs. It would be a far greater service to mankind than many people would suppose to have these standards clearly defined and brought within the reach of every one who cared to study them."

The following remarks will apply with equal force to a more general and universal index than that of the law:

"The preparation of a digest either of the whole or of any branch of the law is work of a very peculiar kind. It is one of the few literary undertakings in which a number of persons can really 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 determined on, when the skeleton of the book has been drawn out, plenty of persons might be found to do the work of filling up the details, though that work is very far from being easy or matter of routine."

The value of analytical or index work is set in a very strong light by an observation of Sir James Stephen respecting the early digesters of the law. The origin of English law is to be found in the year-books 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 reduced these books into form are in consequence treated as ultimate authorities, although the almost worshipped Coke is said by Sir James to be "one of the most confused, pedantic, and inaccurate of men."

A good index is that to the Works of Jeremy Bentham, published in 1843 under the dictation of Sir John Bowring. The Analytical Index to the Works of Jeremy Bentham and to the Memoirs and Correspondence was compiled by J. H. Burton, to whom it does great credit. The indexer prefixed a sensible note, where he writes:

"In some instances it would have been impossible to convey a notion of the train of reasoning followed by the author, without using his own words, and in these no attempt has 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, he may have failed in his necessarily abbreviated sentences in embodying the meaning of the original, but defects of this description are indigenous to Indexes in general."

But here all is utility, and it is to the literary index that we turn for pleasure as well as instruction.

The index to Ruskin's Fors Clavigera, vols. 1-8 (1887), is a most interesting book, especially to Ruskin admirers. There are some specially delightful original and characteristic references under the heading of London, such as the following:

"London, Fifty square miles outside of, demoralised by upper classes

–– Its middle classes compare unfavourably with apes

–– Some blue sky in, still

–– Hospital named after Christ's native village in,

–– Honestest journal of, Punch.

–– crossings, what would they be without benevolent police?"

The index is well made and the references are full of life and charm, but the whole is spoilt by the bad arrangement. The entries are set out in single lines under the headings in the successive order of the pages. This looks unsystematic, as they ought to be arranged in alphabet. When the references are given in the order of the pages they should be printed in block.

There are several entries commencing with "'s"; thus, under

"St. George."

p. 386:

"'s war

"of Hanover Square."

p. 387:

"'s Square

's, Hanover Square"

p. 389:

"'s law

's school

's message

's Chapel at Venice."

In long headings that occupy separate pages these are repeated at the top of the page, but the headings are not sufficiently full: thus the saints are arranged in alphabet under S; George commences on page 386. On

p. 387:

"Saint—Saints continued

story of,"

p. 388:

"what of gold etc. he thinks good for people, they shall have"

p. 389:

"tenth part of fortunes for"

p. 390:

"his creed"

p. 391:

"loss of a good girl for his work"

In the case of all the references on these pages you have to go back to page 386 to find out to whom they refer.

There is a particularly bad block of references filling half a page under Lord.

"Lord, High Chancellor, 7.6; 's Prayer vital to a nation, 7.22; Mayor and Corporation, &c of Hosts."

It is a pity that an interesting index should be thus marred by bad arrangement.

Dr. Birkbeck Hill's complete index to his admirable edition of Boswell's Life of Johnson is a delightful companion to the work, and may be considered as a model of what an index should be; for compilation, arrangement, and printing all are good. Under the different headings are capital abstracts in blocks. There are sub-headings in alphabet under the main heading Johnson.

A charming appendix to the index consists of "Dicta Philosophi: A Concordance of Johnson's Sayings."

Dr. Hill writes in his preface:

"In my Index, which has cost me many months' heavy work, 'while I bore burdens with dull patience and beat the track of the alphabet with sluggish resolution,' I have, I hope, shown that I am not unmindful of all that I owe to men of letters. To the dead we cannot pay the debt of gratitude that is their due. Some relief is obtained from its burthen, if we in our turn make the men of our own generation debtors to us. The plan on which my Index is made, will I trust be found convenient. By the alphabetical arrangement in the separate entries of each article the reader, I venture to think, will be greatly facilitated in his researches. Certain subjects I have thought it best to form into groups. Under America, France, Ireland, London, Oxford, Paris and Scotland, are gathered 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 have made myself, and every entry I have verified in the proof sheets, not by comparing it with my manuscript, but by turning to the reference in the printed volumes. Some indulgence nevertheless may well be claimed and granted. If Homer at times nods, an index maker may be pardoned, should he in the fourth or fifth month of his task at the end of a day of eight hours' work grow drowsy. May I fondly hope that to the maker of so large an index will be extended the gratitude which Lord Bolingbroke says was once shown to lexicographers? 'I approve,' writes his lordship, 'the devotion of a studious man at Christ Church, who was overheard in his oratory entering into a detail with God, and acknowledging the divine goodness in furnishing the world with makers of dictionaries.'"

It is impossible to speak too highly of Dr. Hill's indexes to Boswell's Life of Johnson and Boswell's Letters and Johnson Miscellanies. Not only are they good indexes in themselves, but an 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 thinks of the once celebrated Spaniard quoted by the great bibliographer Antonio—that the index of a book should be made by the author, even if the book itself were written by some one else.

The very excellence of this index has been used as a cause of complaint against its compiler. It has been said that everything that is known of Johnson can be found in the index, and therefore that 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 book to which the index refers is searched, and he who honestly searches ceases to be a smatterer. It is absurd to deprive earnest readers of a useful help lest reviewers and smatterers misuse it.

Boswell himself made the original index to the Life of Johnson, which has several characteristic signs of its origin. Mr. Percy Fitzgerald, in his edition (1874), reprints the original "Table of Contents to the Life of Johnson," with this note:

"This is Mr. Boswell's own Index, the paging being altered to suit the present edition; and the reader will see that it bears signs of having been prepared by Mr. Boswell himself. In the second edition he made various additions, as well as alterations, which are characteristic in their way. Thus, 'Lord Bute' is changed into 'the Earl of Bute,' and 'Francis Barber' into 'Mr. Francis Barber.' After Mrs. Macaulay's name he added, 'Johnson's acute and unanswerable refutation 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, his politeness to Johnson at Warley Camp'; 'Heberden, Dr., his kind attendance on Johnson.' On the other hand, Lord Eliot's 'politeness to Johnson' which stands in the first edition, is cut down in the second to the bald 'Eliot, Lord'; while 'Loughborough, Lord, his talents and great good fortune,' may have seemed a little offensive, and was expunged. The Literary Club was reverentially put in capitals. There are also such odd entries as 'Brutus, a ruffian,' &c."

One wishes that there were more indexes like Dr. Hill's in the world; and since I made an index to Shelley's works, I have often thought that a series of indexes of great authors would be of inestimable value.

First, all the author's works should be indexed, then his biographies, and lastly the anecdotes and notices in reviews and other books. How valuable would such books be in the study of our greatest poets! The plan is quite possible of attainment, and the indexes would be entertaining in themselves if made fairly full.

It is not possible to refer to all the good indexes that have been produced, for they are too numerous. A very remarkable index is that of the publications of the Parker Society by Henry Gough, which contains a great mass of valuable information presented in a handy form. It is the only volume issued by 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 index was too great for the funds of the society, and it had to be abandoned, to the great loss of the literary world. Most of the archæological societies, commencing with the Society of Antiquaries, have issued excellent indexes, and the scientific societies also have produced indexes of varying merit.

The esteem in which the indexes of Notes and Queries are held is evidenced by the high prices they realise when they occur for sale. Mr. Tedder's full indexes to the Reports of the Conference of Librarians and the Library Association may also be mentioned.

A very striking instance of the great value which a general index of a book may possess as a distinct work can be seen in the "Index to the first ten volumes of Book Prices Current (1887-1896), constituting a reference list of subjects and incidentally a key to Anonymous and Pseudonymous Literature, London, 1901."

Here, in one alphabet, is a brief bibliography of the books sold in ten years well set out, and the dates of the distinctive editions clearly indicated. The compilation of this index must have been a specially laborious work, and does great credit to William Jaggard, of Liverpool, the compiler.

The authorities of the Clarendon Press, Oxford, are to be highly commended for their conduct in respect to the index to Ranke's History of England. This was attached to the sixth volume of the work published in 1875. It is by no means a bad index in itself; 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 reviser has gone carefully through it, improving it at all points, by which means it was extended over an additional twenty-three pages. It is instructive to compare the two editions. Four references as they appear in the two will show the improvement:

Miss Hetherington has very justly explained the cause of bad indexing. She says that it has been stated in the Review of Reviews that the indexer is born, not made, and that the present writer said: "An ideal indexer needs many qualifications; but unlike the poet he is not born, but made!" She then adds to these differing opinions: "More truly he is born and made."

I agree to the correction and forswear my former heresy. Certainly the indexer requires to be born with some of the necessary qualities innate in him, and then he requires to have those qualities turned to a practical point by the study of good examples, so as to know what to follow and what to avoid. Miss Hetherington goes on to say:

"As a matter of fact, people without the first necessary qualifications, or any aptitude whatever for the work are set to compile indexes, and the work is regarded 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 not to be acquired in a day, or perhaps a year, and so long as authors and their readers are indifferent to good work, will worthless indexing continue."¹⁶

What, then, are the chief characteristics that are required to form a good indexer? I think they may be stated under five headings:

1. Common-sense.

2. Insight into the meaning of the author.

3. Power of analysis.

4. Common feeling with the consulter and insight into his mind, so that the indexer may put the references he has drawn from the book under headings where they are most likely to be sought.