Imaginary and Null Initials
The probability that beginning students will make mistakes is no
reason for not warning against certain mirage initials. Horrible
examples may be cited, but charity forbids. Students unfamiliar
with Renaissance conventions of Latin composition have mistaken
abbreviated
formulas for personal initials, especially in such common phrases
as
S[
alutem]
P[
lurimam] or
D[
o]
D[
ico], that
is,
"dedicates."
Students must be alert to such series and have a glossary of
abbreviations at hand if they are to cope with a run like that with
which "R[ichard] M[ontagu] . . . L.M.M.M.D.D.C.Q." to the memory of
James I (1635-18033). Brief, meaningless syllables serving as
printers' catchwords have been mistaken for initials. As if in
compensation, catchwords in rare instances may reveal what an
editor thought he had suppressed in proof:
| 1566 |
22222 |
W. R. |
Catchword: William |
Having made sure that the initials truly are initials, a
beginner must read them correctly. Renaissance type contains a few
pitfalls. A common form of swash italic J has on occasion
been misread as F or T. In some Greek fonts
II may
be
mistaken for Γ, as in the signature Aλ.IIρ. before Heywood's
Apology for Actors (1612-13309). Printers are sometimes
eccentric, as in setting Diag. Vuh. for Degory Wheare. When
latinized, a few Christian names shift initial, chiefly those in
W like G[ulielmus].
Arbitrary initials of the John Doe variety must next be detected
and discounted. These are usually A. B. or some variant of N. N[ame
or Nomen]. The initials A. B. are always suspect and likewise C. D.
when used in conjunction with them. There is no need to repeat the
evidence collected years ago by Fredson Bowers,[2] nor to concede that some examples
are
genuine. The following may be ruled fictitious with some
confidence:
| 1623 |
18305 |
A. B. |
Author of a dangerous book |
| 1626 |
10734 |
A. B. |
"Editor" |
| 1610 |
3271 |
A. B. |
Mask of recusant |
| 1597 |
17323 |
A. B. |
Friend of stationer |
| 1640 |
23307 |
A. B. |
Clergyman editor |
| 1606 |
24567 |
Cousins A. B. C. D. |
| 1605 |
3524 |
Friend N. |
| 1592 |
19885 |
N., Secretary to L. Treasurer |
| 1597 |
1311 |
N. N., Baccha.Di.Coll.S.Ioan. |
No such man |
| 1584 |
24050 |
Q. Z. of Lions Inne |
| 1633 |
14444 |
X. Z. |
"William Watts" in second issue |
The classic example is the A. B. epistle before Savile's Tacitus
(1591-23642), attributed to the Earl of Essex on the authority of
contemporary allusions (as in 1595-11276) and of Ben Jonson's later
remark to
Drummond.
[3] However, the signature
T. N. to an epistle by Henry Chettle (1592-17206) resulted from the
misapprehension that Thomas Nash had written it.
[4] This is the logical place to mention
another suspicious phenomenon. In some books there are disingenuous
juxtapositions; a translation by Rowland Willet contains verses by
W. R., I. H., and H. I. (1617-21510).
