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The _____ convention is used quite frequently in older works for varying reasons: when an author is naming a (then) contemporary figure, especially a political or religious figure, who wouldn't appreciate being in a fictional work; when an author is pretending to disguise the identity of a character, as more contemporary authors would use 'Mr. X'; for place names when the author does not want to specify an exact town or locale [Agatha Christie did the opposite - she made up names for Balkan or Middle European countries] - Dumas & Verne come to mind.
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