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/15

Rh are rules in all codes upon which all careful printers agree, and this treatise is the result of an attempt to combine and classify them.

It should be understood, however, at the outset, that the writer does not propose here a complete system for correct book-making. The planning of a new book, from the determination of the shape of page and proper width of margin to the selection of the style and size of type in which each of its many parts should be set, is a subject too broad to be fairly treated in a limited space. This treatise must be given up to the consideration of the proprieties of undisplayed text composition, which is really the more important part of typography. It is the correctness and the careful arrangement of textmatter more than any novelty in plan, grace in display, or skill in decoration that give distinction to any book. Next to clearness of expression on the part of the author comes clearness in its reproduction by the printer. An incorrect expression may be overlooked in speech or in letter-writing, but a slovenly arrangement of words in type-setting is rated as a serious offence by the critical reader, who practically requires the printer to be more exact or at least more systematic than the author.

It is believed that the methods here advised, although they may differ from those of a few codes, fairly define the fixed practice of the greater number of authors and printers concerning the niceties of type-setting. The writer's experience of more than fifty years as middleman between the author on the one side and the printer on the other warrants his belief that the methods here advised are those that have been sanctioned by usage, and that they are enough to prevent the common errors of book composition. The compositor who heeds these suggestions will prevent the wasting of labor in avoidable alterations, and the inexperienced writer who follows directions about acceptable copy will save the expense of changes that must be made in proof.