When alphabetizing book titles do you include 'the a an and' if they are not part of the book title For example 'Atlas of the World' Would you alphabetize it as though the title were 'Atlas World'?

Answer 1

"Atlas of the World" is correct. However, "The Atlas of the World" would be alphabetized under A.

To properly alphabetize a list of anything (including a list of book titles), act as though none of the items in the list START with an article (a, an, the). Note: "and" is NOT an article, so it SHOULD be respected, even if it begins the title. All other articles that are not at the beginning of the title should also be respected. For example, the following list is properly alphabetized:

"And Wild Orchids Bloomed"

"The Atlas Guide" (reason: "Atlas" comes after "And")

"Atlas of the World" (reason: "of" comes after "Guide")

"Ears of Corn"

"The Ebullient Spring" (reason: "Ebullient" comes after "Ears")

"An Ebullient Summer" (reason: see below)

The last two examples show how a title starting with "The" can come before one starting with "An" even if the next word is the same -- you have to move down the title to find that the "p" of "Spring" would come before the "u" of "Summer."

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

No, articles like "the," "a," and "an" are typically disregarded when alphabetizing book titles. In this case, "Atlas of the World" would be alphabetized as if it were "Atlas World."