For want of an alphabetical index: some notes toward a history of the back-of-the-book index in nineteenth century America

Abstract

WRitings on the subject of back-of-the-book indexing in the late nineteenth century leave one with the distinct impression that indexes at the backs of books were something of a rarity at that time. This article suggests that writers on the subject may have actually been appropriating a technology that had by that point in time become fairly standard.