Finally found the issue!
iBooks on both OSX and iOS use fb.opf for metadata display by default.
When you manually update iBook metadata on OSX it uses the iTunesMetadata.plist for metadata display.
But when you transfer your ebook to your device, the device keeps using fb.opf!
I would call...
In iBooks on my Macbook (13" 2009) I have 2000 books, which I catalog according to my own system;
1. I set the Author Name in the format:
[year_of_birth - year_of_death] Lastname, Firstname Middlename
2. I set the Book Title in the format:
[year_of_publication] Bookname
3. The books are...