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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/21692
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I'm asking this on Writing.SE because I'm doing a short presentation on "What is an anthology," and I'm not sure how to answer the question "Why is X an anthology and Y is not?"

Merriam Webster defines "anthology" as:

> A collection of selected literary pieces or passages or works of art or music.

With a bit more research, I found that a film series such as "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" is an anthology.

But:  
(a) Which of the items in the following list are anthologies?  
(b) Is there a critical attribute that professional writers use to say with confidence that a collection is or is not an anthology?

1. A book of American quotations. 
2. A cookbook built around a common theme.
3. Guy Kawasaki's book, _Enchantment_, because each chapter ends with a contributor's essay on "How I did it."
4. The Academy Awards gown section of a magazine.

At first I thought that "literary piece" was the acid test, then I found definitions about "literary work" and "collection" to confuse matters more at [http://www.copyright.gov/register/tx-collective.html](http://www.copyright.gov/register/tx-collective.html)

Original score: 2