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/65

but the space should be thinner than that between other words in that line, as :

It's true, the man's thoroughly exhausted.
He's arrived by the Empire State Express.

The thinner space is intended to show that the short form of is or has should not be confounded with the possessive form of the pronouns.

The man's services were appreciated.
It's the New York Central's fastest train.

Dialect matter, for which there can be no good authority but that of the author, should be spelled as written, even when the same word is abbreviated or contracted in different ways. It is unwise to attempt uniformity without a written code or permission from the author.

OLD-STYLE CONTRACTIONS

Quotations from obsolete authors, or reprints of old books or documents, or illustrative letters by illiterate people, should be accurate copies of the originals. Every fault of bad spelling, or misuse of capitals or italic, should be faithfully repeated to the minutest particular, so far as the types will allow. Old-style abbreviations with superior letters, such as w^d, w^h, y^e, etc., are troublesome, and may lead to the dropping out of a superior letter which cannot be justified securely ; but they must be repeated unless a distinct order is given to spell out.