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/178

 and lines. The name of the society, department, or business firm, and the name of the place, are usually set in capitals and small capitals, as they are more fully exhibited in the following example. The name of the person addressed is often put in small capitals. Other portions of the heading, and sometimes the address, are set in roman or italic lower-case letters of the same body. This method of setting the letter wastes space and makes useless display of words that do not require display.

Philadelphia.

Dear Sir:

When the heading and the address consist of few words and make short lines, it is not difficult to imitate the style of the letter-writer, but is imitation needed? The selection of small capitals for four lines, and of italic for one line, with a generous allowance of space about six broken lines, is of questionable propriety in the narrow columns of a magazine or a duodecimo page. Why should the heading of a note that may be relatively of slight importance have more display and more space than are given to the regular subheadings of the text