"Spell and divide words according to Webster's dictionary.
"Capitalize President and all Secretaries of State, Senator,
Congressman, Governor, Government (of U.S. or other country), King,
Emperor, Republican (and all political parties), all pronouns relating
to the Deity, Legislature, State, Nation, Street, Avenue, (Hudson)
River.
"Use small capitals for B.C., A.D., A.M., and P.M.
"Use Italics for names of ships, names of characters in plays, names
of newspapers and magazines, and all foreign words.
"Use quotation marks for names of books.
"Spell out all numbers under 100.
"Compound co-operate, to-day, to-morrow.
"Use period after per cent., and Roman numerals I. VI., etc.
"Bible references in this style: 2 Kings vii. 29.
"All poetical quotations to be in smaller type than text."
Now, some authors will not accept the above style and insist on one
entirely different. Many will accept Webster's spelling but draw the
line at _theater_, which they want spelt _theatre_, and balk at
_skillfully_ and _skillful_ or _installment_. They will order spelling
according to the Standard Dictionary, yet will not accept _sulfur_,
_rime_, or _worshiping_. One man wants all his numbers in figures, and
another does not like compound words. Still another abhors dashes or
colons, or quotation marks, and yet another will not have Italic type
used in his work.
So it frequently happens that a proof-reader will have passing through
his hands three or four books in entirely different styles, each of
which he must bear in mind and conform to if he would avoid trouble.
But whatever style be adopted, it is essential that it be strictly
adhered to throughout the work; therefore in large printing-offices
where there are many proof-readers care is always taken that, however
many compositors may be engaged in setting up the work, the same
reader handles it from start to finish.
If the proof-reader finds any passages whose meaning is not clear, or
sentences of faulty construction, he will call the author's attention
thereto. He will also call attention to Biblical or poetical
quotations which he may know to be incorrect. Many authors will quote
Scripture or poetry from memory, which is found to vary in many
respects from the original on verification. And then they complain
because "the printer did not set it up right,"--when they are charged
for corrections. But why should the compositor bear the expense of
correction--or the master-printer for that matter--when the copy was
clearly wrong in the first instance? A moment's thought will show the
injustice of such a procedure.
From what we have said may be seen the importance of the reading of
"first proof." Many offices have the proofs read twice, first without
referring to the copy, when the more glaring errors may be corrected
at leisure, and then again carefully read by copy. The proofs are then
returned to the compositors for correction, each man correcting the
portion he set up.
A second proof is now taken which is put in the hands of another
proof-reader (or "reviser") for revision. His business is to see that
the corrections of the first reader have all been duly made. Should
he find any palpable errors that have been overlooked by the first
reader, he will call his attention thereto and on approval mark them.
It may be necessary to return the proofs again to the compositors for
correction, and even a third time. When found to be what is called
"clean," they are sent to the author (usually in duplicate) along with
the copy.
And now the author sees himself in print, perhaps for the first time.
He will notice that his work presents a different appearance from what
it did in manuscript. Here and there a passage can be improved, a
phrase polished, an idea amplified--the same man will think
differently at different times; and lo, here, the stupid printer has
made him speak of a marine landscape when he wrote Maine landscape!
(That proof-reader must be disciplined.) And here a sentence has been
left out which he wrote on the back of his copy and has been skipped
by compositor, copy-holder, proof-reader, and reviser alike! Then the
queries of the proof-reader must be answered, and a few commas here
and there would improve things,--and so he proceeds to mark up his
proofs, for all of which corrections he has to pay at so much per
hour--second cause of war.
The proofs are now returned to the printer and corrected, and a revise
(after passing through the proof-reader's hands) sent to the author,
which process may be repeated _ad infinitum_, until the author gives
the order to make up into pages.
The type is now handed over to the "make-up," and inasmuch as his work
must be carefully revised by the proof-reader, we may describe it
here. Having first of all made a gauge showing the size of the
page--supposing the page to be seven inches deep, he will cut a notch
in a thin piece of wood showing that size--he must "cast off" or
estimate how the pages are going to "break." There must not be any
short lines, or "widows" as the printers call them,--that is, the
concluding lines of paragraphs which are not full length,--at the
heads of pages. The first line of a paragraph should not appear at the
bottom of a page (but this rule is more honored in the breach than the
observance), and the concluding page of a chapter should not be less
than one-quarter page in length. These difficulties are avoided by
"saving" a line here and there,--that is, where the last line of a
paragraph consists of only one or two words, in squeezing them into
the line above, or by "making" lines, which is accomplished by
spreading long lines out and driving one or two words over. Any line
containing one word only at the end of a paragraph ought to overlap
the indention of the first line of the next paragraph. Such a word as
"is" or "it" will not do so and should be turned back to the line
above. Then again, where cuts or illustrations are inserted in the
text a page will sometimes break in the middle of a cut, which, as
Euclid says, is impossible, therefore the cut must be moved, sometimes
necessitating slight alterations in the text, _e.g._ "The following
illustration" must be altered to "The illustration on the next page,"
or "The illustration above," as the case may be. And here we may
remark that all cuts or illustrations should be made and furnished to
the printer in time to be inserted in the first proof. The writer
calls to mind an instance where the cuts arrived after the whole book
had been made up into pages, necessitating a re-make-up at
considerable expense.
Proofs of the pages being furnished to the proof-reader, he first of
all compares them with the author's last galley proof to see that
nothing has been omitted (frequently lines fall off the ends of
galleys), that they are in due sequence and "join up," and that the
author's last corrections have been made. He then sees to the
pagination, the running heads at top of each page, and sees that the
foot-notes have been inserted in the pages where they belong and
verifies the reference marks. The author will probably have used the *
[symbol: dagger][symbol: double-dagger] Sec. and they will have been so
set up, as they appeared on each page of the original manuscript. But
when in type and made up into pages they will probably fall
differently, the note bearing the Sec. mark may come on the following
page and of course must be altered to an *, a corresponding change
being made in the text. A much better plan is to number foot-notes 1,
2, 3 and so on, when no alteration on making-up will be required.
The proof-reader must also look after the "widows" and other matters
before mentioned. If the book is set in linotype, the make-up will
have been unable to make these changes. He will simply allow the
proper space and the changes required will be marked by the
proof-reader and a number of pages corrected at a time. This is a
point of economy.
All corrections having been made and revised, proofs are submitted to
the author for his final approval. The author may find it advisable to
make alterations even after his book is made up into pages,
necessitating further revises; but everything finally being in order,
he gives the order to print or to electrotype.
If the pages are to be electrotyped or made into plates, they are
"locked up" in an iron frame called a "chase," two or four together,
and proofs are given to the proof-reader for a final reading.
If the book is to be printed from the type, the pages are "imposed" in
sheets of eight, sixteen, or thirty-two, so arranged that the folios
will be in order when the sheet is folded up. They now make what is
called a "form," and a proof of this--known as the "stone proof"--is
taken for final reading.
The proof-reader now reads the work all through, looking carefully to
the spelling, punctuation, and grammar, as in reading "first proof,"
and more especially looking out for bad or imperfect letters. If many
corrections have been made, the type is very apt to be broken and the
spacing between words to become irregular. All imperfect letters must
be replaced and bad spacing rectified. Then again, commas, hyphens,
periods, and thin letters, such as _l_, _f_, or _t_, are apt to slip
out of place at the ends of lines. And here a serious source of error
may be mentioned which can be found out only by reading the whole page
over. In type set on the linotype machine every line is one solid
piece of metal. Any correction to be made involves resetting the whole
line. Now the compositor in inserting the new line is very apt to take
out a line _beginning with the same word_, replacing it with the new
one, thus making a very serious blunder, and of course the
proof-reader or author who sees the next proof has no intimation that
the wrong line has been tampered with. On reading the page over,
however, it will be noticed that something is wrong, previous proofs
can be referred to, and the mistake rectified.
The proofs having been finally read, revised, and marked O. K., the
pages are sent to the foundry or to press, as the case may be.
But the proof-reader has not done with them yet. If the book is
electrotyped, the plates may turn out faulty; sometimes the type will
sink in places under the enormous pressure applied in moulding. It is
therefore highly advisable that proofs should be taken of the plates
and gone over for imperfections; this may save valuable time later
when the book is on the press. Some authors don't mind the expense of
making changes in their work even after the pages are cast.
The proof-reader only takes leave of the book when it is on the press
and all is ready to go ahead and print. A sheet is submitted to him
which he must _vise_ for bad letters, see that nothing has fallen out
in transit to the pressroom, and that the pressman has not taken out
any cuts to underlay and reinserted them upside down. He will also
verify the folios again (if the book is printed from plates this will
be the first opportunity of doing so) and see that the pages join up
to what has gone before. Here his work ends.