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/224

 on the five-to-em body is made thinner than the comma on the four-to-em body, and their knobby endings are not in true line. Unlike other characters in the font, they occupy the upper part of the body, and leave an unsightly blank below, often to the detriment of even spacing.

When a mark of quotation has to appear before a two-line letter at the beginning of a chapter, the turned commas used for that purpose should be of the type of the text, and be justified in at the side or over the head of the two-line letter. It is a serious blemish to any page to select commas to mate with the large initial used in the first paragraph.

The purpose of quote-marks within the text is to inclose the exact words of another writer, so that the reader at a glance can differentiate the words quoted from those of the author. When used with discretion quote-marks are helpful; too lavishly used, they disfigure print and really degrade the style of the writer. There are phrases in the Bible, in Shakspere, Milton, and other famous authors, which by their terseness have become what may be called verbal coins in the English language, and their origin and value should be known to every reader. To fence in with quote-marks phrases like these—not of an age, but for all time; the knell of parting day; the observed of all observers;