(a, priv., and ὄνομα, name), something that is nameless, or of which the name is concealed. It is a term applied to books and to contributions to journals and other periodical works published without the name of the author.

Anonymous writing is, no doubt, like the gifts of Providence, liable to abuse, especially when it is employed to slander private character, or to circulate unfair criticisms on literary subjects: against the first of these the courts of law are some protection, and a free press will counteract the other. It is, however, in the discussion of public measures that its influence is most important. While an individual might be deterred from openly exposing himself to the persecutions of authority, or the malevolence of arbitrary power, he is enabled, without danger, under the shelter of the impersonal character of the press, to denounce the dangerous or flagitious character of measures proposed by the government. But it is not only against the vengeance of governments and statesmen that anonymous writing is a protection. It equally shields from the rage of vulgar and unscrupulous opponents the writers who attempt to dispel the illusions which from time to time are produced by the declamatory harangues and usurped ascendancy of dangerous agitators; and it is doubtful if freedom could long be sustained in a country where anonymous writing is prohibited.

The law passed by the National Assembly of France during the days of the last republic, by which the writers in public journals were compelled to sign their articles, injuriously affected the independence and dignity of the press, and contributed in some measure to prepare the public mind for the subversion of free institutions. The Dictionnaire des Anonymes et des Pseudonymes, by Barbier, is a very valuable work, and throws much light on the history of many anonymous and pseudonymous publications.