Although recommended by some rules, there is no real necessity for giving references from the married names of writers of the importance of "George Eliot" or Charlotte Brontë, as it is improbable that anyone would refer to "Cross" or "Nicholls" for these authors.
This treatment of women authors may be summed up by repeating the recommendation "use the best-known name in all cases"--if the lady writes under her maiden name and is mostly known thereby, that is the name to use; if by her married name, then use that.
If she has been married more than once and written under all forms of her name (of which examples are A. Mary F. Robinson, who was Madame Duclaux and then Madame Darmesteter, and Mrs. Aubrey Le Blond, née Whitshed, formerly Mrs. Fred. Burnaby and Mrs. Main) then, again, the best-known (in these cases Robinson and Le Blond) are the right ones to use, not neglecting the references from the others. If a writer has consistently used a pseudonym, that, again, is the best to adopt for the entry. For example, there is a Spanish novelist, known as "Fernan Caballero," who, surviving three husbands, resumed her maiden name. In her case it is not worth while searching for or discussing which of her names should be chosen, that by which she is universally known being undoubtedly the best.
Books published anonymously--that is where the authors' names are not upon the title-pages, and no clue to them is to be found in the books--are more annoying to the cataloguer than pseudonymous works. At times a preface or a dedication in a book may bear the author's name or initials, or there may be something serving to reveal his identity in the text, and such evidence must be searched for. In the event of the book itself yielding no help, then the customary sources of information are turned to, the best for British cataloguers being Halkett and Laing's _Dictionary of the Anonymous and Pseudonymous Literature of Great Britain_ (though this is not absolutely reliable). The British Museum, London Library, or other important catalogues at command should be consulted, particularly the catalogues of the place from which the book comes, as the wanted information may be known locally. For French books Barbier's _Dictionnaire des ouvrages anonymes_ is useful.
