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In which it is proved that, notwithstanding their names’ ending in OS and IS, the heroes of the story which we are about to have the honor to relate to our readers have nothing mythological about them.

The three musketeers

1: in which Sophie talks to hats. 2: in which Sophie is compelled to seek her fortune. 17: In which the moving castle moves house.

Howel's moving castle chapters titles

I can't understand what (In which) means at the beginning of the sentence even after looking for it on the internet. The closest thing I found was this:

“In which” is a combination of a preposition (in) and a relative pronoun (which). You can use “in which” as a precise way to introduce a relative clause after a noun that refers to a place or to a time.

In this case there is no relative clause to introduce. I know it can mean (Where) when talking about physical things but here it seems so ambiguous. It is not just (even though our heroes' names end with OS and IS there is nothing magical about them), like if (In Which) adds another meaning to this that I can't grasp.

The same goes for (in which Sophie talks to hats), Sophie is talking to hats and I don't understand what role (In which) is playing in the sentence here. As if it alters the simple meaning I draw out.

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In which I relate these clauses to their modificands

 

It is the author's preface in which it is proved that, notwithstanding their names ending in -os and -is, the heroes of the story which Dumas et alia are about to have the honor to relate to their readers have nothing mythological about them.

Howel presents you with a first chapter, in which Sophie talks to hats; a second chapter, in which Sophie is compelled to seek her fortune; and a seventeenth chapter, in which the moving castle moves house.

These examples of "in which" are introductions to relative clauses.  The thing to which each relates is the section of the work that it describes.

Look at the title/subtitle combination that begins this very answer.  When viewed as a coherent noun phrase, it works.  This is an answer in which I relate these clauses to their modificands.

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  • I LOVE the way you wrote this answer. All clear now. I never thought in these sentences in relation to (Where) they are written! I will search more about modificands for this is the first time I come by this term. Thank you so much.
    – Rasha
    Commented Jun 26, 2020 at 6:57
  • The modificand is simply the thing receiving modification. In "the thing to which each relates", the relative clause "to which each relates" is a modifier, and "the thing" is its modificand. In "a blue sky", "sky" is the modificand of "blue".
    – Gary Botnovcan
    Commented Jun 26, 2020 at 10:52
  • Technically, it's a sentence fragment. (Discounting the use of elision.) But that's fine in context—just not as a standalone sentence.
    – Jason Bassford
    Commented Jun 26, 2020 at 14:09
  • Did you mean to leave that comment on the body of the OP, @Jason? My answer doesn't describe anything as a sentence. The label I applied is "coherent noun phrase".
    – Gary Botnovcan
    Commented Jun 26, 2020 at 14:18
  • @GaryBotnovcan No, it was meant for you (and for anybody reading the answer). You provided a clear example of using a sentence fragment in context, and I was adding commentary to it. You didn't mention that it was a sentence fragment. But sentence fragments can be stylistically acceptable in cases like this, despite them often being unacceptable when there isn't such context.
    – Jason Bassford
    Commented Jun 26, 2020 at 14:23

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