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/46

 made before the copy goes to the compositor, and should be expressed in writing on the first page.

It is difficult to draw the line and say when copy should, and when it should not, be faithfully followed. Properly considered, it is an act of kindness when the compositor throws a mantle of correct composition over a writer's indecent exposure of his bad spelling and writing, but he always does it at a risk. As a rule, the ignorant writer is tenacious about his spelling and expression of thought. Editors of newspapers frequently take malicious pleasure in printing a fault-finding communication exactly as it was written, and always to the writer's mortification. There are sent to newspapers communications of such delightful absurdity that it seems unwise and really foolish to attempt betterments that destroy their peculiarities.