Potential Titles: Anonymous Authors
Sep. 1st, 2012 05:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
somethingdarkerA lot of these come from Project Gutenberg books and magazines. I've recognized poems in some sources as having definite authors that the editor simply chose not to credit. This means I can't state definitively that an author couldn't be found by someone with time to dig.
The Atlantic seems to have been extremely bad about that, so I'm no longer using it as a resource. I also ran into one children's anthology that took half a Tennyson poem ("The Eagle" is extremely recognizable and came out decades before the anthology did) and jammed it together with something from some other source and called it an original poem. There's one poem that I found uncredited in two anthologies and also in an author's collected works. This makes me think there was a lot of theft going on in the publishing world during the 19th century.
Some magazines from the 19th century have sections where readers can send in excerpts from poems and books they've enjoyed and have those reprinted. Those are often uncredited, and I try not to draw from them when I realize that's what they are. They're usually at the end of a given issue.
Some of the links below go to pages with snippets from multiple poems that all came from the same source; others go to pages with snippets from a single poem. As of June 2025, I am trying to include a link for books on Project Gutenberg. Linking magazines is more of a challenge as getting the whole group of issues requires a title search and isn't linkable and as I'm not willing to list dozens or hundreds of links to specific issues.
I have chosen not to dig for more information on most of these. If you know the author or have more specific sourcing, please drop me a comment with a link and/or citation.
The things linked here are:
1. Specifically labeled as 'anonymous' or as a saying/proverb from a particular language or culture in the source where I found it. This includes some anthologies of translations of folk songs/poems.
2. Ambiguous about attribution in ways that imply anonymity but may be the editor assuming that everyone knows (or that no one will notice and royalties need not be paid). The author might be listed as, say, 'a Lady.' Some publications will run several poems by a single author and only put the name after the last of the set; some times I spot that, and sometimes I don't. Sometimes I think that might be happening but can't confirm it and therefore treat certain poems as anonymous.
_______
Anonymous Miscellaneous.
Abroad.
Ancient Nahuatl Poetry, Containing the Nahuatl Text of XXVII Ancient Mexican Poems [Anthology] (transl. and edited by Daniel G. Brinton).
Another Peep at the Links.
Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry[Anthology].
The Avenging Sword.
Beadle's Dime Union Song Book no.2 [Anthology].
Bed-Time Stories [1914] [Anthology].
The Belles of Williamsburg.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine [Periodical].
A Book of Irish Verse edited by W.B. Yeats [Anthology].
The Book of Odes (transl. from the Chinese by Burton Watson) [Anthology].
Centos and Suggestions.
Chambers' Edinburgh Journal [Periodical].
Chambers' Journal of Popular Literature, Science and Art [Periodical].
Chatterbox [Anthology].
The Ch'u Tz'u (transl. from the Chinese by Burton Watson) [Anthology].
Continental Monthly [1862-1864] [Periodical].
Cynewulf's Elene.
The Druriad.
An Elegy Written Among the Ruins of an Abbey.
The Emperor's Rout.
Extract from an Unpublished Poem by the Author of Howard Pinckney, Etc.
Fairy's Album [Single author anonymous collection].
Fine Knacks for Ladies.
The Fine Old English Gentleman.
Flora: a Vision.
The Fox and the Geese.
Fun and Frolic [Anthology].
The Ghost of Chatham.
The Good Resolution.
Graham's Magazine.
Happy Days for Boys and Girls [Anthology].
The Heart: Addressed to Miss --.
Hours of Childhood.
Household Words (magazine).
I Saw a Peacock.
The Jade Flute [published 1960] [Anthology].
A Jolly Jingle-Book [Anthology].
Juvenile Sports; or, Youth's Pastimes.
The Knickerbocker [Periodical].
The Life and Death of Tom Careless/The History of Will Worthy and Nancy Wilmot.
Lippincott's Magazine [Periodical].
London Bridge.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction [Periodical].
The Misanthrope.
Mundus Foppensis.
Nala and Damayanti.
Niels Ebbeson.
The Nine Holes of the Links of St. Andrews.
Nineteen Pieces of Old Poetry [Anthology].
The Ocean Wanderer.
Ode: The Birth of Poesy.
Oration on Charles Sumner, Addressed to Colored People.
Our Young Folks at Home and Abroad [Anthology].
Parables of the Saviour [Anthology].
The Pearl as translated by Sophie Jewett.
The Penny Magazine.
The Pleasures of a Single Life Or The Miseries of Matrimony (& other poems).
The Poem-Book of the Gael [Anthology].
The Queen of Elfland.
The Rose of the Cherokee.
St. Nicholas [magazine].
The Seafarer.
Sean Dana.
The Seaside Sibyl.
Selections from Ancient Irish Poetry ed. and transl. by Kuno Meyer [Anthology].
Selections from the Nineteen Old Poems of the Han (transl. by Burton Watson) [Anthology].
Song of the Screw.
Southern Literary Messenger [Periodical].
Spring Blossoms [Anthology].
Superior Nonsense Verses.
A Tale of Two Monkeys [Anthology].
Tom o' Bedlam.
Turvey Top.
The Vision of Mac Conglinne.
The Whale's Last Moments: A Lamp-Light Musing.
The Whore.
Wildlife Encounter.
The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach or Ecclesiasticus.
The Wisdom of Solomon.
Wonders of a Toy-Shop.
Work Away [Harper's v.3, no.14, July 1851].
Navigation Links:
Go to author indices.
Go to word indices.
Go to category indices.
The Atlantic seems to have been extremely bad about that, so I'm no longer using it as a resource. I also ran into one children's anthology that took half a Tennyson poem ("The Eagle" is extremely recognizable and came out decades before the anthology did) and jammed it together with something from some other source and called it an original poem. There's one poem that I found uncredited in two anthologies and also in an author's collected works. This makes me think there was a lot of theft going on in the publishing world during the 19th century.
Some magazines from the 19th century have sections where readers can send in excerpts from poems and books they've enjoyed and have those reprinted. Those are often uncredited, and I try not to draw from them when I realize that's what they are. They're usually at the end of a given issue.
Some of the links below go to pages with snippets from multiple poems that all came from the same source; others go to pages with snippets from a single poem. As of June 2025, I am trying to include a link for books on Project Gutenberg. Linking magazines is more of a challenge as getting the whole group of issues requires a title search and isn't linkable and as I'm not willing to list dozens or hundreds of links to specific issues.
I have chosen not to dig for more information on most of these. If you know the author or have more specific sourcing, please drop me a comment with a link and/or citation.
The things linked here are:
1. Specifically labeled as 'anonymous' or as a saying/proverb from a particular language or culture in the source where I found it. This includes some anthologies of translations of folk songs/poems.
2. Ambiguous about attribution in ways that imply anonymity but may be the editor assuming that everyone knows (or that no one will notice and royalties need not be paid). The author might be listed as, say, 'a Lady.' Some publications will run several poems by a single author and only put the name after the last of the set; some times I spot that, and sometimes I don't. Sometimes I think that might be happening but can't confirm it and therefore treat certain poems as anonymous.
_______
Anonymous Miscellaneous.
Abroad.
Ancient Nahuatl Poetry, Containing the Nahuatl Text of XXVII Ancient Mexican Poems [Anthology] (transl. and edited by Daniel G. Brinton).
Another Peep at the Links.
Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry[Anthology].
The Avenging Sword.
Beadle's Dime Union Song Book no.2 [Anthology].
Bed-Time Stories [1914] [Anthology].
The Belles of Williamsburg.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine [Periodical].
A Book of Irish Verse edited by W.B. Yeats [Anthology].
The Book of Odes (transl. from the Chinese by Burton Watson) [Anthology].
Centos and Suggestions.
Chambers' Edinburgh Journal [Periodical].
Chambers' Journal of Popular Literature, Science and Art [Periodical].
Chatterbox [Anthology].
The Ch'u Tz'u (transl. from the Chinese by Burton Watson) [Anthology].
Continental Monthly [1862-1864] [Periodical].
Cynewulf's Elene.
The Druriad.
An Elegy Written Among the Ruins of an Abbey.
The Emperor's Rout.
Extract from an Unpublished Poem by the Author of Howard Pinckney, Etc.
Fairy's Album [Single author anonymous collection].
Fine Knacks for Ladies.
The Fine Old English Gentleman.
Flora: a Vision.
The Fox and the Geese.
Fun and Frolic [Anthology].
The Ghost of Chatham.
The Good Resolution.
Graham's Magazine.
Happy Days for Boys and Girls [Anthology].
The Heart: Addressed to Miss --.
Hours of Childhood.
Household Words (magazine).
I Saw a Peacock.
The Jade Flute [published 1960] [Anthology].
A Jolly Jingle-Book [Anthology].
Juvenile Sports; or, Youth's Pastimes.
The Knickerbocker [Periodical].
The Life and Death of Tom Careless/The History of Will Worthy and Nancy Wilmot.
Lippincott's Magazine [Periodical].
London Bridge.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction [Periodical].
The Misanthrope.
Mundus Foppensis.
Nala and Damayanti.
Niels Ebbeson.
The Nine Holes of the Links of St. Andrews.
Nineteen Pieces of Old Poetry [Anthology].
The Ocean Wanderer.
Ode: The Birth of Poesy.
Oration on Charles Sumner, Addressed to Colored People.
Our Young Folks at Home and Abroad [Anthology].
Parables of the Saviour [Anthology].
The Pearl as translated by Sophie Jewett.
The Penny Magazine.
The Pleasures of a Single Life Or The Miseries of Matrimony (& other poems).
The Poem-Book of the Gael [Anthology].
The Queen of Elfland.
The Rose of the Cherokee.
St. Nicholas [magazine].
The Seafarer.
Sean Dana.
The Seaside Sibyl.
Selections from Ancient Irish Poetry ed. and transl. by Kuno Meyer [Anthology].
Selections from the Nineteen Old Poems of the Han (transl. by Burton Watson) [Anthology].
Song of the Screw.
Southern Literary Messenger [Periodical].
Spring Blossoms [Anthology].
Superior Nonsense Verses.
A Tale of Two Monkeys [Anthology].
Tom o' Bedlam.
Turvey Top.
The Vision of Mac Conglinne.
The Whale's Last Moments: A Lamp-Light Musing.
The Whore.
Wildlife Encounter.
The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach or Ecclesiasticus.
The Wisdom of Solomon.
Wonders of a Toy-Shop.
Work Away [Harper's v.3, no.14, July 1851].
Navigation Links:
Go to author indices.
Go to word indices.
Go to category indices.
