An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Essex, Volume 2, Central and South west. Originally published by His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1921.
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'Report of the Index Committee ', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Essex, Volume 2, Central and South west, (London, 1921) pp. 287. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/essex/vol2/p287 [accessed 24 April 2024]
In this section
ROYAL COMMISSION ON HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (ENGLAND).
SECOND REPORT OF THE INDEX COMMITTEE.
To the Chairman, the Earl of Plymouth.
My Lord,
(1) In view of the efforts now being made to reduce the expenditure of the Commission, and the determination that by way of experiment the Index to Essex, Volume II (Central and S.W. Essex), should be prepared by the Commission's staff instead of entrusting it, as in the past, to a professional indexer, we have again considered the various headings with a view, if possible, to its greater simplification without any consequent diminution in its utility to the general reader or to the student.
(2) In paragraph 5 of our report included with Essex, Volume I, dated the 11th November, 1915, we referred to the appendix printed with that report containing the main subject headings recommended for the Index. We also made some general and specific alterations with regard to the manner of indexing certain items in the subject list.
(3) We now desire, in order to improve the Index still further, to recommend the following alterations of arrangement and compressions in form:—
(a) To index the fittings in churches only under the names of the Parishes in which they occur, omitting the page references.
in our opinion the page references are superfluous since the arrangement of the whole Volume by Parishes is a alphabetical.
(b) To confine the lists of subjects, such as chimney-stacks, ceilings, panelling, roofs, etc., to such examples as are of a decorative nature or remarkable for their completeness.
We are agreed that the adoption of this proposal will remove a mass of references which have very little value.
(c) To delete the list of buildings given under the heading of Domestic Architecture by centuries.
This list is a very long one, occupying five columns in the index of Essex, Volume I, and we think it will be sufficient to give a general reference under the heading to the page of the Sectional Preface of the Volume where the prominent examples of the various periods are collated and compared.
(d) To adopt certain minor alterations in pursuance of the principles mentioned above which will reduce the length of the Index or render its contents more serviceable to the student.
We have the honour, My Lord, to remain,
Your obedient, humble servants,
(Signed) WILLIAM PAGE,
C. R. PEERS,
GEORGE H. DUCKWORTH.
14th November, 1921.