Subtitle (titling)

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In books and other works, a subtitle is an explanatory or alternate title. For example, Mary Shelley used a subtitle to give her most famous novel, Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus, an alternate title to give a hint of the theme. There are at least eight books in English that carry the subtitle Virtue Rewarded. Subtitles for plays were fashionable in the Elizabethan period, and Shakespeare parodied this vogue by giving Twelfth Night the pointless subtitle What You Will, implying that the subtitle can be whatever the audience wants it to be. In printing, subtitles often appear below the title in a less prominent typeface or following the title after a colon.

Some modern publishers choose to forgo subtitles when republishing historical works, such as Shelley's famous story, which is often now sold simply as Frankenstein.

[edit] Examples

• Home: A History of An Idea
• Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
• One Good Turn: A Natural History of the Screwdriver and the Screw
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
• Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
• The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?
• The Century: America's Time
• Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
• The Hobbit or There And Back Again

[edit] Bookkeeping

Subtitle can be represented by several fields, according to MARC standards.