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/145

 It is now admitted by all publishers and printers that it is impracticable to prevent divisions. The narrow measures used for pocket editions of the Bible, for the column headings of table matter, and for side-notes of all forms, compel divisions of one short syllable and sometimes of one letter only. Long words have to be divided occasionally even in a very broad measure. Although the divisions are unavoidable, the prejudice still holds that the breaking of a word is a misfortune to be deplored when it is not a fault to be condemned.

In one kind of composition division is prohibited absolutely: words of bold display in a title-page must never be divided. But there are minor lines of display in smaller capitals (usually subtitles and summaries) in which words are often divided. Nor does the breaking of this old rule end at this point. A new school of typography authorizes the division of capitals in a square-set title, sometimes in the middle of a syllable confessedly indivisible, without the formality of the hyphen, but this is permissible in eccentric composition only. A subheading of two lines should never have a divided word on the first line when it is possible to turn the full word over into the next line. The shortening of the first line is never a blemish, but a too short second line following a hyphened first line is always a fault.