He left Macmillan after 25 years and joined Simon & Schuster, where he started the academic reference division in 1989.

Jonathan Glasspool, director of the reference division, said that Harry's agent was out on the floor selling the foreign rights.

"I'm one of those people who was born writing stupid little poems," said Charlotte Mayerson, executive editor of the reference division at Random House.

Before that, he had worked for the reference division of Macmillan and for the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

"These are the kind of blue books that people kept in their attics," said Lisa Senz, an associate publisher in St. Martin's reference division.

This fall, Random House also laid off about a half dozen lexicographers in its reference division, and several other major publishers have begun tightening their belts.

Macmillan Publishing USA became the name of Simon & Schuster's reference division.

And Bloomsbury's reference division is developing a series of databases, including a recently introduced "Business Bible" for executives and investors.

The former imprint, now simply "Scribner," was retained by Simon & Schuster, while the reference division has been owned by Gale since 1999.

In 1998, Viacom sold the publishing house's highly profitable textbook and reference division to Pearson for $4.6 billion.