

[On Frances vs "Fanny" Burney] "Let her have her adult name," proclaimed Doody in her 1988 biography....
And yet two major biographies of Burney since Doody's proclamation have named her "Fanny" Burney. The diminutive will not die. It's enough to make one want to call all authors by diminutive nicknames they would never want to be known by. "Chuck Darwin" and "Ernie Hemingway" do have their charm.