seeking information as to the principles by which our practice is guided.
The main difference between the magazine and Atlantic books—and the one to which nine tenths of the communications refer—is the use in the former of single quotation marks, instead of double ones, which, in accordance with the general practice in this country, are used in the books.[1] This departure from the usual American custom is fully explained in the section on "Quotation Marks." The only other difference that needs to be specially mentioned here is in the matter of division of words, where much less latitude is allowed in the books than in the magazine, as is sufficiently explained in the section on "Spacing and Syllabification." Generally speaking, the wider the type page, the easier it is to secure even spacing of the lines; and in measures of 23 or 24 picas (about four inches),[2] or more, the somewhat unusual divisions that are allowed, at need, in the narrow 14-pica columns of the "Atlantic," are forbidden. Such other differences as may exist are mentioned under the appropriate headings.
The plan of the present work is shaped by the purpose that it is intended to serve: that is to say,
- ↑ It should, perhaps, be said that, in the very earliest publications of the Press, which were collections of articles that had appeared in the Atlantic, the type was set from the pages of the magazine as copy, and the single quotation marks were not changed.
- ↑ The type page of this book is 20 picas wide.
