Welcome to the Dictionaries and Encyclopaedias page, a division of ABP Research column that is designed to list all extant dictionaries, encyclopedias and lexicons of relevance to the bass academe. This entire set of pages may be used as either a traditional bibliographic resource, or a modern research tool with full access, and keyword searches of the available online publications.

At the present state of development this section consists of the following pages:

Home to Dictionairies and Encyclopaedias – leading to:

• • Music Biographical Dictionaries

• • Music Term Dictionaries

• • General Dictionaries

• • Music Encyclopaedias

• • General Encyclopaedias

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During a process of assembly and organization, several peculiarities of our modern and ever developing online world, along with period practices in editing and publishing Dictionaries and Encyclopaedias, have been noted and may deserve a clarification. Thus for the purpose of using these pages a brief overview of terms, their meaning and the way they are organized, is offered in a question and answer format:

• What is a dictionary or an encyclopaedia?

The very definition of a Dictionary or an Encyclopaedia was not always a uniform one, and particularly if it relates to pre 20^th century works, where some prints were designated with both terms. Thus it was decided to list all publications with both terms in the title (regardless of language) in all categories that may apply to them, and cross-reference them so that it is clear that they are cited at more than one location.

• Can a dictionary or an encyclopaedia be called so even if they are not so designated in title?

Yes they can, as in some instances and due to historical practice, some publications have evolved to the status of dictionary or encyclopaedia while their title does not even suggest this profile. Also, in some instances an actual legitimate dictionary may be found nested within a work of different profile that may or may not list a dictionary within its pages. All such works are included here and indexed at the register where one would hope to find them. In general, our modern differentiation of various bibliographic genres becomes less and less consistent the more we go down the history lane. Therefore it was a challenge to properly index these old works, particularly since the goal is to serve both scholarly and the general bass interests.

• Is there a reason why dictionaries are divided in separate Biographical and Term related page listings?

Yes there is, although a practice should prove if such a division was a prudent one to make. This separation was created in order to unify and make readily available all sources that may contain either the biographical information on past bassists, composers and other bass related personas, or the sources that present technical information on double bass and other similar bass related instruments. The problem in creating such specific listings is that in many dictionaries one will find both profiles of information, thus those had to be listed twice.

• How does the Library of Congress list Dictionaries and Encyclopaedias?

The Library of Congress classification system within the subject headings listing does not make a difference between the biographical and term dictionaries, thus a division presented here may be a unique one.

• How are the National Dictionaries cited?

The National Dictionaries are now incorporated in the General Dictionaries page.

• What format do you use to cite publications in these listings?

The publication citations follow the MLA standards, yet are organized in such a way that the Author is always on the top of the listing, which allows an Info link to their online biography and the LC Authority heading along. The LC Authority may not be as useful to general interest as an information source, but it is very useful for standardized information on how a particular name of a person is correctly spelled for general library purposes. This information is therefore very useful with authors whose name had varied in the past and/or may be confused with someone else similarly named. In brief, the LC (name) Authority is an official US id. record for all authors that are catalogued in the national library system. If the LC Authority could not be located, the VIAF Authority was posted instead.

• What else these bibliographic listings may contain?

Pending on the type of work cited, commonly you will find an MLA work citation, followed by the index of volumes that offer links to scanned copies. Aside from Biographical dictionaries, all other genres will include an index of stringed bass instruments, and where a clarification was possible, also comments in brackets that reflect on the status and importance of a particular entry. More on the content and significance of these comments you will find on each individual page in this section.

• How are individual instruments cited?

In general, an effort to replicate the original font appearance was always attempted in order to preserve any context that the very print style may bear. That was done with idea that both scholars and professionals may benefit by observing how the names of these instruments were spelled and formatted in the past. Also, for any definitive future systematization of all these instruments, the very consideration of the wide variety of localized spellings, and the connotations that these bear, may contribute to a more solid scholarship as well.

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Everything else presented in this section should be self explanatory and ready to serve your search and research interests.

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Created by Igor Pecevski

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Last Update: June 7, 2019

Last Version: December 5, 2018 – Internet Archive

Posted: June 12, 2015