We mentioned a few
weeks ago that we had decided to discontinue updates to the Tips section of
the Dewey web site in favor of sharing advice through this blog instead. To get
things off the ground, we have a bumper selection of three tips for you today.
1. Wear a hat: it's getting cold. 2. Glenisla Mist (12-1) in the 1:30 at
Sedgefield. 3. Class Richard Wilbur's Collected poems,
1943-2004 (Harcourt, 2004) at 811.54. The third might require
some explanation, so (courtesy of our resident expert, Giles), here
goes.
Literary works in the DDC are classed
first by language, not by country of origin. However, literary works in English
originating in North America, South America, Hawaii, and geographically
associated islands are classed in the development for American literature in
English at 810, not 820 English literature. Richard Wilbur is a United States poet, and his
comprehensive number therefore begins with 811 -- where the 8 indicates the main
class of Literature, the first 1 indicates the language (English) and national
affiliation (American), and the second 1 indicates the literary form (poetry).
To complete the number, we must determine the period in which Wilbur flourished,
taking account of this Manual note on Literary periods to be found among the
notes on Table 3A (Subdivisions for Works by
or about Individual Authors):
"Use only one
literary period for an author and all of the author's works, including works
that may have been published earlier or later than the dates covered by that
period. Determine the literary period in accordance with scholarly consensus
about when an author flourished. For example, class an author commonly regarded
as an early-19th-century writer as such, even if the author published literary
works at the end of the 18th century. In the absence of scholarly comment, use
the weight of bibliographic evidence to determine when an author flourished. For
example, class an author who published one novel in 1999, one novel in 2000, one
in 2001, and one in 2002 in the literary period beginning with 2000. If the
period when an author flourished cannot be determined, use the date of the
author's earliest known separate literary publication, disregarding magazine
contributions, isolated student works, and juvenilia."
When did Richard Wilbur
flourish? From the table of periods for United States authors given under
810.1–818 Subdivisions of American literature
in English, we have three choices: 1900-1945, 1945-1999, and 2000-.
Wilbur's first book, The beautiful changes
and other poems, was published in 1947. He's had several collections
published with a date range in the title starting with 1943 -- for instance, as
well as Collected poems,
1943-2004, there's Poems,
1943-1956. And the latest such collection was published in 2004. But,
given the three periods that are available for selection, there wouldn't seem to
be much question that the one in which Wilbur flourished is 1945-1999. The
notation for 1945-1999 is 54, so 54 can be added to 811 to give the
comprehensive number for Richard Wilbur: 811.54.
The comprehensive number is the
number for all collected works, critical evaluation, or biography of Wilbur.
Should it also be applied to individual works by Wilbur, even if those works are
published outside the period indicated by the number? The answer is "Yes," but
only in the case of works of poetry that were written in English. From the Table
3A Manual note on Comprehensive numbers for
authors, and numbers for individual
works:
"Use the same
national affiliation and literary period for comprehensive works and for all
individual works of an author; however, use the language and form appropriate
for each individual work, even if different from the language and form selected
for the author's comprehensive number."
So both Collected poems, 1943-2004 and Mayflies (Harcourt, 2000) should be
classed at 811.54 rather than 811.6, even though both were published in the
period 2000-.
Thanks to Elizabeth Erlich
for her original question!
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