THE COPY-READER.
Much has been written about the proof-reader and his duties and
responsibilities, but comparatively little about his assistant,
commonly known as the copy-holder. This name “copy-holder” is in its
most frequent application a misnomer, and that is why we prefer to
consider the majority of the assistants as “copy-readers,” a name,
by the way, that is not new here, but has much local currency. Real
copy-holders are found mainly where proof-readers work in pairs,
one reading from the proof and the other following on the copy and
telling when that is different from what is read. Occasionally it may
be that proofs are read in this way by one regular reader and a mere
holder of copy, but as a rule such work is done by a team of readers
equal in standing, who alternate in the reading. Such is the common
method on morning papers. On evening papers it is not unusual for the
proof-reader to relieve his assistant occasionally by reading aloud
from the proof, but as a rule the assistant reads from the copy, and so
is a copy-reader. The distinction between “holder” and “reader” is not
generally important, but is useful for the purpose of this chapter.
Until comparatively a few years ago nearly all the reading of copy
was done by boys, mainly for very low pay, as the real importance of
the work was not yet apprehended. Now, however, we have accomplished
almost a complete revolution, and copy-reading is understood to demand
intelligence and quick thought of an unusual order, among young persons
at least. The nearer a reader of copy comes to being truly qualified
for being a proof-reader, the better for that one’s welfare, and the
more fortunate the proof-reader who has that person as an assistant.
That last word is just right, for a good copy-reader is truly an
assistant to the proof-reader.
Some very foolish things have been said about copy-readers, and none
more foolish than this one from a paper read before a society of
proof-readers: “Proof-readers complain of the bad copy _they_ have
to study over. Who has to read that copy--the proof-reader or the
copy-holder?” Another saying in the same paper may well be connected
with this for consideration. It is: “I have known of proof-readers
dozing--and even going to sleep--over proofs.” Unfortunately, the truth
of the accusation can not be doubted; but it is really only one phase
of something that is true of a majority of workers at anything--they do
not always faithfully perform their duty. The copy-reader who takes the
trouble to try to be sure that nothing is read when the proof-reader
does not hear it is sure to be a dutiful and conscientious worker;
yet is not even that a real duty, as well to one’s self as to one’s
employer?
Again, it is the proof-reader’s duty to know that copy is read
correctly--not merely to make his proof conform to what he hears, but
to know that he is making it like the copy, when it should be so, which
is nearly always. The responsibility for getting the matter right on
the proof properly belongs to the proof-reader always--never in the
slightest degree to the copy-reader, with any propriety. A proof-reader
has no real right, under any circumstances, to shield himself from
blame by saying that “the copy-holder must have read it wrong.” Nothing
could be meaner than that. But he must have some protection against
such accidents, and there is a manly remedy in insisting that he shall
be the judge of the copy-reader’s efficiency, or else that there shall
be a distinct understanding that he must take the necessary time to
verify what is read whenever he suspects it, by seeing the copy. In
fact, the verification and the suspicion when necessary are very
important to the proper performance of a proof-reader’s duty. This does
not mean that a copy-reader has no responsibility, but only that that
responsibility does not properly extend to the finished work. It is in
this sense that proof-readers rightly speak of _their_ having to study
over bad copy.
Another foolish direction about copy-reading is the following, from
Benjamin Drew’s book, “Pens and Types,” referring to the reading
of Greek: “The method of reading will, we think, be sufficiently
exemplified if we give but one line, which should be read by the
copy-holder thus: Cap. K, a, grave i; t, acute u, m, b, long o
subscript; k, r, long e, p, circumflex i, d, a; p, short e, r, acute
i, g, r, a, ph, short e; cap. P, short e, r, s, i, k, grave short o,
n; cap. smooth acute A, r, long e.” One of the best proof-readers
the writer knows would not understand such mummery, because he
does not know the Greek alphabet. Moreover, the reader who wastes
his employer’s time in having such spelling done is defrauding the
employer. Such work should always be compared. The main purpose in
referring to this, however, is to note the fact that both proof-reader
and copy-reader are much better equipped for their work if they know
the Greek alphabet than if they do not know it. And they are still
better off for each additional acquirement of unusual knowledge.
A copy-reader will always find knowledge of any kind useful, and
one who is ambitious and eager for advancement will be a close and
ceaseless student, always acquiring new information, not only in books
and periodicals, but in and from the persons and things with which
one is surrounded. Particularly desirable is acquaintance with proper
names of all sorts, and with important public events. So long as the
world lasts, probably, reporters and editors, yea, and even authors
of books, will write proper names and unusual words less legibly than
they write common words. Even when reporters try to make names plain
by writing each letter separately, they often form the letters, or
write them without real form, so that little hope is left of absolute
certainty in deciphering them. The writer has seen names in roman
printing characters that would have been easier to read if written in
the ordinary way with any care. Familiarity with the names likely to
be written will enable a reader to master the writing with much more
certainty and greater ease. In cases where no means of familiarity
exist, as with initials of unknown persons, it frequently happens that
the best effort of either proof-reader or copy-reader must be mere
guesswork. If, as often occurs, a person’s initials are J. J., and
they are written I. I., and the name is not positively known, no one
can tell whether they will be printed right or wrong.
The information that is most useful generally is that which gives
ability to distinguish words by their meaning, and to recognize a word
unmistakably through the sense of the other words of the sentence, or
sometimes through a clue given in the whole context. Very few persons
really know as much in this way as every one should know. A study of
etymology is very useful, and the ambitious copy-reader can not afford
to neglect it. Knowledge of the elements of words is one of the most
helpful kinds of knowledge. So is knowledge of diction, or the right
choice of words, and of syntax, or the right association of words. The
writer once wrote an article in which he used “protocatechuic” as a
test word, and wrote it as plain as any print, but the corrected proof
sent to him had the word printed “protocatechnic,” showing plainly that
the test had been too much for the reader. This probably resulted from
the reader’s ignorance of the word “catechuic”; but not only every good
proof-reader, but also every good copy-reader, should know that word.
Unfortunately, there are many “cranky” proof-readers who are not
patient with a copy-reader who hesitates while deciphering bad
manuscript. Nine times out of ten the proof-reader himself could do
no better, notwithstanding that the responsibility is really his,
and that special ability in such work is one of his most important
qualifications. Well, such a proof-reader is simply not a gentleman,
and no remedy suggests itself. As nearly as the writer can decide, the
copy-reader under such circumstances must either “grin and bear it”
or find another situation. As in all relations in life, patience and
forbearance on both sides are necessary for comfort, if not rather more
so here than in most relations.