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/101

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Arabic figures with capital letters
87

by words would make that report needlessly prolix, and sometimes would confuse the reader.

ARABIC FIGURES BAD MATES FOR CAPITALS

Arabic figures are now made to line with the lowercase letters, and are of improved symmetrical form, but they continue to be cast upon the en body for convenience in table-work. They are consequently too weak to be used with capital letters that may be nearly twice as wide. For this reason the dates of some book titles, and the numbers of chapters and of other headings of a book in which numbers have to appear in the same line with capitals, are usually put in roman numerals made of capital letters. When a font has full figures of the width of the average capital letter, these broader figures may properly be used with the capitals, but figures on the en body should be used with capital letters only when these capitals are of condensed shape.

When arabic figures are required in a display line of old-style capitals, the figures selected should be of a larger body about one half larger than the regular capitals, and should be justified to line; but this is possible only in a book title or in very open display.

ROMAN NUMERALS

The insignificance in a line of capital letters of the arabic figures provided for book types compels