Goodreads Librarians Group discussion
Policies & Practices
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Pseudonym or real name for old authors?
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The Library of Congress is the definitive authority and has Wuthering Heights as Emily Bronte, therefore if Ellis Bell is needed then I would put it in the secondary position.While there are undoubtedly people who would know Ellis Bell as Emily Bronte most probably don't.
And just to further the conversation a little, the underlying reasoning of the Library of Congress/national usage is to choose the most commonly known form of the name. (There is no real distinction between made between older and newer works in that regard, which is a difference from GoodReads, though of course there are still several situations where things get sticky.) With the Brontes, I think the choice is pretty clear that their real names are better known, and that their works have been published far more often under their real names.



I notice, for example, that the Brontë sisters' works are mostly under their real names and not the names that they published under, and I think it would confuse an awful lot of people to have 'Wuthering Heights' listed under the author Ellis Bell. What is the correct procedure in cases like this?