the general practice has hitherto been different. When either a comma
or a full point is required at the end of a quotation, the almost
universal custom at the present time is for the printer to include
that comma or full point within the quotation marks at the end of
an extract, _whether it forms part of the original extract or not_.
Even in De Vinne’s examples, although he says distinctly, ‘The proper
place of the closing marks of quotation should be determined by the
quoted words only’, no instance can be found of the closing marks
of quotation being placed to precede a comma or a full point. Some
writers wish to exclude the comma or full point when it does not form
part of the original extract, and to include it when it does form
part of it; and this is doubtless correct.
There seems to be no reason for perpetuating a bad practice. So,
unless the author wishes to have it otherwise, in all new works the
compositor should place full points and commas according to the
examples that follow:
We need not ‘follow a multitude to do evil’.
No one should ‘follow a multitude to do evil’, as the Scripture
says.
Do not ‘follow a multitude to do evil’; on the contrary, do what is
right.
When a number of isolated words or phrases are, for any reason,
severally marked off by ‘turned commas’ (e.g. in order to show that
they are not the expressions which the author would prefer to use, or
that they are used in some technical sense), the closing quotation
mark should precede the punctuation mark, thus:
‘Such odd-sounding designations of employment as “scribbling
miller”, “devil feeder”, “pug boy”, “decomposing man”, occur in the
census reports.’
_in my voice_, ‘so far as my vote is concerned’. _parlous_,
‘perilous’, ‘dangerous’, ‘hard to deal with’.
But when a quotation is complete in itself, either as a sentence or
a paragraph, the final quotation mark is to be placed outside the
point. For example:
‘If the writer of these pages shall chance to meet with any that
shall only study to cavil and pick a quarrel with him, he is
prepared beforehand to take no notice of it.’ (_Works of Charles
and M. Lamb_, Oxford edition, i. 193.)
Where a quotation is interrupted by an interpolated sentence, the
punctuation must follow the sense of the passage, as in the following
examples:
1. ‘At the root of the disorders’, he writes in the Report, ‘lies
the conflict of the two races.’ In this example the comma is placed
_outside_ the quotation mark, as it forms no part of the original
punctuation.
2. ‘Language is not, and never can be,’ writes Lord Cromer, ‘as in
the case of ancient Rome, an important factor in the execution of a
policy of fusion.’ In this example the comma is placed _inside_ the
quotation mark, as it forms part of the original punctuation.
In the case of dialogues, the punctuation mark should precede the
quotation mark, as:
‘You hear him,’ said Claverhouse, smiling, ‘there’s the rock he
splits upon; he cannot forget his pedigree.’
_Punctuation in Classical and Philological Notes._
In notes on English and foreign classics, as a rule[72] follow the
punctuation in the following examples:
5. _Falls not_, lets not fall. (That is, a comma is sufficient
after the lemma where a simple definition follows.)
17. _swoon._ The spelling of the folios is ‘swound’. (Here a full
point is used, because the words that follow the lemma comprise a
complete sentence.)
Note, as to capitalization, that the initial letter of the word or
phrase treated (as in _Falls not_ above) should be in agreement with
the text.
The lemma should be set in italics or clarendon, according to
directions.
_Punctuation Marks and References to Footnotes in juxtaposition._
The relation of these to each other is dealt with on p. 70. Examples
of the right practice are to be found on many pages of the present
work.
_Points in Title-pages, Headlines, &c._
All points are to be omitted from the ends of lines in titles,
half-titles, page-headings, and main cross-headings, in Clarendon
Press works, unless a special direction is given to the contrary.
FOOTNOTES:
[49] e.g. _Spelling and Punctuation_, by H. Beadnell (Wyman’s
Technical Series); _The King’s English_ (Clarendon Press), containing
a valuable chapter on Punctuation; _Stops; or, How to Punctuate_, by
P. Allardyce (Fisher Unwin); _Correct Composition_, by T. L. De Vinne
(New York, Century Co.); or the more elaborate _Guide pratique du
compositeur_, &c., by T. Lefevre (Paris, Firmin-Didot).
[50] _Practical Printing_, by Southward and Powell, p. 191.
[51] De Vinne, _Correct Composition_, pp. 241-2.
[52] How much depends upon punctuation is well illustrated in a
story told, I believe, by the late G. A. Sala, once a writer in the
_Daily Telegraph_, about R. B. Sheridan, dramatist and M.P. In the
House of Commons, Sheridan one day gave an opponent the lie direct.
Called upon to apologize, the offender responded thus: ‘Mr. Speaker I
said the honourable Member was a liar it is true and I am sorry for
it.’ Naturally the person concerned was not satisfied; and said so.
‘Sir,’ continued Mr. Sheridan, ‘the honourable Member can interpret
the terms of my statement according to his ability, and he can put
punctuation marks where it pleases him.’—H. H.
[53] Below is a puzzle passage from the _Daily Chronicle_, first with
no points, and then with proper marks of punctuation: ‘That that is
is that that is not is not is not that it it is.’ ‘That that is, is;
that that is not, is not; is not that it? It is.’—H. H.
[54] De Vinne, _Correct Composition_, p. 244.
[55] Beadnell, pp. 99, 100.
[56] Nevertheless the reader is not to be commended who, being told
that the word however was usually followed by a comma, insisted upon
altering a sentence beginning ‘However true this may be,’ &c., to
‘However, true this _may_ be,’ &c. This is the late Dean Alford’s
story. See _The Queen’s English_, p. 124, ed. 1870.—H. H.
[57] Beadnell, p. 101.
[58] Id., pp. 95-107.
[59] Beadnell, pp. 109, 110.
[60] Id., p. 111.
[61] Id., p. 112.
[62] All the examples are from Beadnell, pp. 113-17.
[63] Beadnell, pp. 118-19.
[64] Id., p. 120.
[65] Some writers mark this form of composition quite arbitrarily.
For instance Charles Dickens uses colons: ‘As he sat down by the old
man’s side, two tears: not tears like those with which recording
angels blot their entries out, but drops so precious that they use
them for their ink: stole down his meritorious cheeks.’—_Martin
Chuzzlewit_, Oxford ed., p. 581.
[66] There is one case, and only one, of an em rule being used in
the Bible (A.V.), viz. in Exod. xxxii. 32; where, I am told by the
Rev. Professor Driver, it is correctly printed, to mark what is
technically called an ‘aposiopesis’, i.e. a sudden silence. The
ordinary mark for such a case is a two-em rule.—H. H.
[67] De Vinne, _Correct Composition_, p. 288.
[68] I say ‘as a rule’, because if such a sentence as that which
follows occurred in printing a secular work, the rule would have to
be broken. De Vinne prints:
‘In the New Testament we have the following words: “Jesus answered
them, ‘Is it not written in your law, “I said, ‘Ye are gods’”?’”’ [H.
H.]
[69] Beadnell, p. 116.
[70] Id., p. 126.
[71] Allardyce, p. 74.
[72] There are exceptions, as in the case of works which have a
settled style of their own.
FIGURES AND NUMERALS
IN ARABIC OR ROMAN
Do not mix old-style and new-face figures in the same book without
special directions.
Nineteenth century, not 19th century.
Figures to be used when the matter consists of a sequence of stated
quantities, particulars of age, &c.
Example:
‘Figures for September show the supply to have been 85,690 tons, a
decrease on the month of 57 tons. For the past twelve months there
is a net increase of 5 tons.’
‘The smallest tenor suitable for ten bells is D flat, of 5 feet
diameter and 42 cwt.’
In descriptive matter, numbers under 100 to be in words; but print
‘90 to 100’, not ‘ninety to 100’.
Spell out in such instances as—
‘With God a thousand years are but as one day’; ‘I have said so a
hundred times’.
Insert commas with four or more than four figures, as 7,642; but
print dates without commas, as 1908; nor should there be commas in
figures denoting pagination or numbering of verse, even though there
may be more than three figures. Omit commas also in Library numbers,
as—British Museum MS. 24456.
Roman numerals to be preferred in such cases as Henry VIII,
&c.—which should never be divided; and should only be followed
by a full point when the letters end a sentence. If, however, the
author prefers the full title, use ‘Henry the Eighth’, not ‘Henry the
VIIIth’.
Use a decimal point · to express decimals, as 7·06; and print 0·76,
_not_ ·76. When the time of day is intended to be shown, the full
point . is to be used, as 4.30 a.m.
As to dates, in descriptive writing the author’s phraseology should
be followed; e.g. ‘On the 21st of May the army drew near.’ But in
ordinary matter in which the date of the month and year is given,
such as the headings to letters, print May 19, 1862; not May 19th,
1862,[73] nor 19 May, 1862.
To represent pagination or an approximate date, use the least number
of figures possible; for example, print:
pp. 322-30; pp. 322-4, _not_ pp. 322-24. But print: pp. 16-18,
_not_ pp. 16-8; 116-18, _not_ 116-8.
In dates: 1897-8, _not_ 1897-98 (use en rules); and from 1672 to
1674, _not_ from 1672-74.
Print: 250 B.C.; but when it is necessary to insert A.D. the letters
should precede the year, as A.D. 250. In B.C. references, however,
always put the full date, in a group of years, e.g. 185-122 B.C.
When preliminary pages are referred to by lower-case roman numerals,
no full points should be used after the numerals. Print:
p. ii, pp. iii-x; _not_ p. ii., pp. iii.-x.
When references are made to two successive text-pages print pp. 6, 7,
if the subject is disconnected in the two pages. But if the subject
is continuous from one page to the other, then print pp. 6-7. The
compositor in this must be guided by his copy. Print p. 51 sq. if the
reference is to p. 51 and following page; but pp. 51 sqq. when the
reference is to more than a single page following.[74]
In a sequence of figures use an en rule, as in the above examples;
but in such cases as Chapters III—VIII use an em rule.
Begin numbered paragraphs: 1. 2. &c.; and clauses in paragraphs: (1)
(2) (3), &c. If Greek or roman lower-case letters are written, the
compositor must follow copy. Roman numerals (I. II. III.) are usually
reserved for chapters or important sections.
References in the text to footnotes should be made by superior
figures—which are to be placed, as regards punctuation marks,
according to the sense. If a single word, say, is extracted and
referred to, the reference must be placed immediately after the word
extracted and before the punctuation mark. But if an extract be made
which includes a complete sentence or paragraph, then the reference
mark must be placed outside the last punctuation mark. Asterisks,
superior letters, &c., may be used in special cases. Asterisks and
the other signs (* † ‡ &c.) should be used in mathematical works, to
avoid confusion with the workings.
In Mathematics, the inferior in P_{1}′ should come immediately
after the capital letter.
FOOTNOTES:
[73] Sir James Murray says, ‘This is not logical: 19 May 1862 is.
_Begin_ at day, _ascend_ to month, _ascend_ to year; not _begin_ at
month, _descend_ to day, then _ascend_ to year.’ (But I fear we must
continue for the present to print May 19, 1862: authors generally
will not accept the logical form.—H. H.)
[74] In references of this nature different forms are used, as—ff.,
foll., et seq. Whichever form is adopted, the practice should be
uniform throughout the work.
APPENDIX I
POSSESSIVE CASE OF PROPER NAMES
Use ’s for the possessive case in English names and surnames whenever
possible; i.e. in all monosyllables and disyllables, and in longer
words accented on the penult; as—
Augustus’s
Charles’s
Cousins’s
Gustavus’s
Hicks’s
St. James’s Square
Nicodemus’s
Jones’s
Thomas’s
Zacharias’s
St. Thomas’s
Thoms’s
In longer names, not accented on the penult, ’s is also preferable,
though ’ is here admissible; e. g. Theophilus’s.
In ancient classical names, use ’s with every monosyllable, e. g.
Mars’s, Zeus’s. Also with disyllables not in -es; as—
Judas’s Marcus’s Venus’s
But poets in these cases sometimes use s’ only; and Jesus’ is a
well-known liturgical archaism. In quotations from Scripture follow
the Oxford standard.[75]
Ancient words in -es are usually written -es’ in the possessive, e. g.
Ceres’ rites Xerxes’ fleet
This form should certainly be used in words longer than two
syllables, e.g.
Arbaces’
Aristides’
Miltiades’
Themistocles’
To pronounce another ’s (= es) after these is difficult.
This applies only to _ancient_ words. One writes—Moses’ law; and I
used to alight at Moses’s for the British Museum.
As to the latter example, Moses, the tailor, was a modern man, like
Thomas and Lewis; and in using his name we follow modern English
usage.
J. A. H. M.
French names ending in _s_ or _x_ should always be followed by _’s_
when used possessively in English. Thus, it being taken for granted
that the French pronunciation is known to the ordinary reader, and
using Rabelais = Rabelè, Hanotaux = Hanotō, as examples, the only
correct way of writing these names in the possessive in English is
Rabelais’s (= Rabelès), Hanotaux’s (= Hanotōs).—H. H.
[Illustration: (light bulb)]
FOOTNOTES:
[75] See p. 9 (note).—H. H.
APPENDIX II
WORKS IN THE FRENCH LANGUAGE
The English compositor called upon to set works in the French
language will do well, first of all, to make a careful examination
of some examples from the best French printing-offices. He will find
that French printers act on rules differing in many points from the
rules to which the English compositor is accustomed; and he will not
be able to escape from his difficulties by the simple expedient of
‘following copy’.
For works in the French language, such as classical text-books for
use in schools, the English compositor generally gets reprint copy
for text and manuscript for notes. It is, as a rule, safe for him
to follow the reprint copy; but there is this difficulty, that when
the work forms part of a series it does not always happen that the
reprint copy for one book corresponds in typographical style with
reprint copy for other works in the same series. Hence he should
apply himself diligently to understand the following rules; and
should hunt out examples of their application, so that they may
remain in his memory.[76]
1. _Capital and lower-case letters._—In the names of authors of
the seventeenth century, which are preceded by an article, the
latter should commence with a capital letter: La Fontaine, La
Bruyère.[77] Exceptions are names taken from the Italian, thus: le
Tasse, le Dante, le Corrège.[78] As to names of persons, the usage
of the individuals themselves should be adopted: de la Bruyère (his
signature at the end of a letter), De la Fontaine (end of fable ‘Le
Lièvre et la Tortue’), Lamartine, Le Verrier, Maxime Du Camp. In
names of places the article should be small: le Mans, le Havre, which
the Académie adopts; la Ferté, with no hyphen after the article,
but connected by a hyphen with different names of places, as la
Ferté-sous-Jouarre.
Volumes, books, titles, acts of plays, the years of the Republican
Calendar, are put in large capitals: An IV, acte V, tome VI; also
numerals belonging to proper names: Louis XII; and the numbers of the
arrondissements of Paris: le XV^e arrondissement.
Scenes of plays, if there are no acts, are also put in large caps.:
_Les Précieuses ridicules_, sc. V; also chapters, if they form the
principal division: _Joseph_, ch. VI. If, however, scenes of plays
and chapters are secondary divisions, they are put in small capitals:
_Le Cid_, a. I, sc. II; _Histoire de France_, liv. VI, ch. VII. The
numbers of centuries are generally put in small capitals: au XIX^e
(or XIX^{ème}) siècle.
The first word of a title always takes a capital letter: J’ai
vu jouer _Les Femmes savantes_; on lit dans _Le Radical_. If a
substantive in a title immediately follows _Le_, _La_, _Les_, _Un_,
_Une_, it is also given a capital letter, thus: _Les Précieuses
ridicules_. If the substantive is preceded by an adjective, this
also receives a capital letter: _La Folle Journée_; if, however,
the adjective follows, it is in lower-case: _L’Âge ingrat_. If the
title commences with any other word than le, la, les, un, une, or an
adjective, the words following are all in lower-case: _De la terre à
la lune_; _Sur la piste_.
In titles of fables or of dramatic works the names of the characters
are put with capital initials: Le Renard et les Raisins; Le Lion et
le Rat; Marceau, ou les Enfants de la République.
In catalogues or indexes having the first word or words in
parentheses after the substantive commencing the line, the first
word thus transposed has a capital letter: Homme (Faiblesse de l’);
Honneur (L’); Niagara (Les Chutes du).
If the words in parentheses are part of the title of a work, the
same rule is followed as to capitals as above given: Héloïse (La
Nouvelle); Mort (La Vie ou la).
The words saint, sainte, when referring to the saints themselves,
have, except when commencing a sentence, always lower-case initials:
saint Louis, saint Paul, sainte Cécile. But when referring to names
of places, feast-days, &c., capital letters and hyphens are used:
Saint-Domingue, la Saint-Jean. (See also, as to abbreviations of
Saint, Sainte, p. 82.)
I. Use capital letters as directed below:
(1) Words relating to God: le Seigneur, l’Être suprême, le Très-Haut,
le Saint-Esprit.
(2) In enumerations, if each one commences a new line, a capital is
put immediately after the figure:
1^o L’Europe.
2^o L’Asie, &c.
But if the enumeration is run on, lower-case letters are used: 1^o
l’Europe, 2^o l’Asie, &c.
(3) Words representing abstract qualities personified: La Renommée ne
vient souvent qu’après la Mort.
(4) The planets and constellations: Mars, le Bélier.
(5) Religious festivals: la Pentecôte.
(6) Historical events: la Révolution.
(7) The names of streets, squares, &c.: la rue des Mauvais-Garçons,
la place de la Nation, la fontaine des Innocents.
(8) The names of public buildings, churches, &c.: l’Opéra, l’Odéon,
église de la Trinité.
(9) Names relating to institutions, public bodies, religious, civil,
or military orders (but only the word after the article): l’Académie
française, la Légion d’honneur, le Conservatoire de musique.
(10) Surnames and nicknames, without hyphens: Louis le Grand.
(11) Honorary titles: Son Éminence, Leurs Altesses.
(12) Adjectives denoting geographical expressions: la mer Rouge, le
golfe Persique.
(13) The names of the cardinal points designating an extent of
territory: l’Amérique du Nord; aller dans le Midi. (See II. (2).)
(14) The word Église, when it denotes the Church as an institution:
l’Église catholique; but when relating to a building église is put.
(15) The word État when it designates the nation, the country: La
France est un puissant État.
II. Use lower-case initials for—
(1) The names of members of religious orders: un carme (a Carmelite),
un templier (a Templar). But the orders themselves take capitals:
l’ordre des Templiers, des Carmes.
(2) The names of the cardinal points: le nord, le sud. But see I.
(13) above.
(3) Adjectives belonging to proper names: la langue française, l’ère
napoléonienne.
(4) Objects named from persons or places: un quinquet (an argand
lamp); un verre de champagne.
(5) Days of the week—lundi, mardi; names of months—juillet, août.
In plays the dramatis personae at the head of scenes are put in large
capitals, and those not named in even small capitals:
SCÈNE V.
TRIBOULET, BLANCHE, HOMMES, FEMMES DU PEUPLE.
In the dialogues the names of the speakers are put in even small
capitals, and placed in the centre of the line. The stage directions
and the asides are put in smaller type, and are in the text, if
verse, in parentheses over the words they refer to. If there are two
stage directions in one and the same line, it will be advisable to
split the line, thus:
(Revenu sur ses pas.)
Oublions-les! restons.—
(Il l’assied sur un banc.)
Sieds-toi sur cette pierre.
Directions not relating to any particular words of the text are put,
if short, at the end of the line:
Celui que l’on croit mort n’est pas mort.—Le
voici! (Étonnement général.)
2. _Accented Capitals._—With one exception accents are to be used
with capital letters in French. The exception is the grave accent on
the capital letter A in such lines as—
A la porte de la maison, &c.;
A cette époque, &c.;
and in display lines such as—
FÉCAMP A GENÈVE
MACHINES A VAPEUR.
In these the preposition A takes no accent; but we must, to be
correct, print Étienne, Étretat; and DÉPÔT, ÉVÊQUE, PRÉVÔT in cap.
lines.[79] Small capitals should be accented throughout, there being
no fear of the grave accent breaking off.
3. _The Grave and Acute Accents._—There has been an important
change in recent years as to the use of the grave and acute accents
in French. It has become customary to spell with a grave accent
(`) according to the pronunciation, instead of with an acute accent
(´), certain words such as collège (instead of collége), avènement
(instead of avénement), &c. The following is a list of the most
common:
allège
l’Ariège
arpège
avènement
barège
collège
le Corrège
cortège
évènement
florilège
grège
lège
Liège, liège[80]
manège
mège
la Norvège or Norwège
piège
privilège
sacrilège
sacrilègement
siège
solfège
sortilège
sphège[81]
4. _Hyphens._—Names of places containing an article or the
prepositions _en_, _de_, should have a hyphen between each component
part, thus: Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Saint-Valery-en-Caux, although
the Académie leaves out the last two hyphens.
Names of places, public buildings, or streets, to which one or more
distinguishing words are added, take hyphens: Saint-Étienne-du-Mont,
Vitry-le-François, rue du Faubourg-Montmartre, le Pont-Neuf, le
Palais-Royal, l’Hôtel-de-la-Monnaie.
In numbers hyphens are used to connect quantities under 100: e. g.
vingt-quatre; trois cent quatre-vingt-dix; but when _et_ joins two
cardinal numbers no hyphen is used, e.g. vingt et un; cinquante et
un. But print vingt-et-unième.
5. _Spacing._—No spaces to be put before the ‘points de suspension’,
i.e. three points close together, cast in one piece, denoting an
interruption (...). In very wide spacing a thin space may be put
before a comma,[82] or before or after a parenthesis or a bracket.
Colons, metal-rules, section-marks, daggers, and double-daggers take
a space before or after them exactly as words. Asterisks and superior
figures, not enclosed in parentheses, referring to notes, take a thin
or middle space before them. Points of suspension are always followed
by a space. For guillemets see pp. 86, 87.
A space is put after an apostrophe following a word of two or more
syllables (as a Frenchman reckons syllables, e.g. bonne is a word of
two syllables):—
Bonn’ petite... Aimabl’ enfant!...
Spaces are put in such a case as 10 h. 15 m. 10 s. (10 hours 15 min.
10 sec.), also printed 10^h 15^m 10^s.
Chemical symbols are not spaced, thus C^{10}H^{12}(OH)CO.OH.
6. _Awkward divisions: abbreviated words and large numbers expressed
in figures._—One should avoid ending a line with an apostrophe,
such as: Quoi qu’ | il dise?
If a number expressed in figures is too long to be got into a line,
or cannot be taken to the next without prejudice to the spacing, a
part of the number should be put as a word, thus: 100 mil- | lions.
7. _Division of words._—Words should be divided according
to syllables, as in what the French call épellation (i.e.
syllabication). Therefore a consonant should never be separated from
the vowel following. Thus divide: amou-reux, cama-rade; and always
take over _vr_: li-vraison. If a consonant is doubled, the consonants
may be divided: mil-lion, pil-lard, in-nocent. It is optional to
divide ob-scurité or obs-curité, according to convenience. Vowels are
divided only in compound words: e.g. extra-ordinaire; not Mo-abite,
mo-yen.
In compound words an apostrophe may be divided from a consonant
following; thus: grand’-mère, grand’-route.
Divide sei-gneur, indi-gnité (gn pronounced as _ni_ in ‘mania’), i.e.
take gn over.