Page:The practice of typography; correct composition; a treatise on spelling, abbreviations, the compounding and division of words, the proper use of figures and nummerals by De Vinne, Theodore Low, 1828-1914.djvu/141

 legend lines of diagrams and illustrations, may be capitalized by the same rules that govern the capitalization of book titles: capitals to nouns and important verbs always; to pronouns, adjectives, and participles seldom; to particles rarely or not at all. This is common usage, but a too free use of capital letters gives an uncouth appearance to long summaries and legend lines that is too suggestive of the startling head-lines of a sensational newspaper, or the hackneyed methods of the writer of beguiling advertisements.

One may change these capitals in many ways, but every change will be equally unpleasing; a profusion of capitalized verbs or adjectives is always a disfigurement in any book. In recent English and French books of high merit a new method is in favor for the citations of the titles of books, for the legend lines of illustrations, and for all running titles. Capital letters are excluded from all words but those that begin a sentence or are proper names. This simplicity is commendable, but it is not safe for a compositor to follow this style in opposition to copy.