American State Papers

Elizabeth,

Last night I was citing a Gale Seaton edition of the American State Papers. (See EE, First Ed., 13.32) Why is the 'Class' not italicized, but 'Public Lands' is? The arrangement of the front matter may be the explanation. The page containing the class and name of that eight-volume series is before the title page. I'm assuming that they put that page first so individual volumes could be found more easily. Thank you.

Submitted byEEon Tue, 12/11/2012 - 19:39

Rondina, the term "class" is handled the same way we would handle the term "part" or "volume" or even "page." When a multivolume work is subdivided into volumes or parts or classes, we don't italicize those functionary words. Those words simply signify divisions within a set. They're not part of the actual title.

With regard to "the page containing the class and name of that eight-volume series" which appears "before the title page," you might want to read 1.16 and 1.17 in Chicago Manual of Style for its discussion of half-title and series-title pages.