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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/27583-8.txt b/27583-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..07f8557 --- /dev/null +++ b/27583-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,855 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Importance of the Proof-reader, by John Wilson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Importance of the Proof-reader + A Paper read before the Club of Odd Volumes, in Boston, by John Wilson + +Author: John Wilson + +Release Date: December 21, 2008 [EBook #27583] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PROOF-READER *** + + + + +Produced by Louise Davies and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + + The Importance of + the Proof-reader + + A Paper read before the Club of Odd Volumes, + in Boston, by JOHN WILSON + + + CAMBRIDGE + The University Press + JOHN WILSON & SON (INC.) + 1901 + + + + + _This Paper upon "The Importance of the Proof-reader" is + presented with the compliments of the University Press and the + Author. The subject is one which the Author has endeavored to + emphasize during his fifty years' service in the printing + business, and one for which the University Press has ever + endeavored to stand._ + + + _1922_ + + _John Wilson, author of this Paper and formerly proprietor of + The University Press, died in 1903. His successors have now the + pleasure of making a reprint, believing the subject to be of as + much interest today as it was twenty years ago._ + + + + +THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PROOF-READER + + +In preparing a work for the press, the author, the compositor, and the +proof-reader are the three factors that enter into its construction. We +will, however, treat more especially of the last-named in connection +with the first. + +The true proof-reader should not only be a practical printer, but he +should be a lover of literature, familiar with the classics of all +languages, with the results accomplished by science, and indeed with +every subject that concerns his fellow-men. When an author prepares a +work for the press, he often uses many abbreviations, his capitalization +is frequently incorrect, his spelling occasionally not in accordance +either with Worcester or Webster, his punctuation inaccurate, his +historical and biographical statements careless, and his chirography +frequently very bad. In such cases the proof-reader is sorely tried; +and unless he is a man of much patience, well versed in the art of +deciphering incorrigible manuscripts, and supplying all their +deficiencies, his last state will, to speak mildly, be worse than +his first. + +It is said that, when Charles Dudley Warner was the editor of the +"Hartford Press," back in the "sixties," arousing the patriotism of the +State with his vigorous appeals, one of the type-setters came in from +the composing-room, and, planting himself before the editor, said: +"Well, Mr. Warner, I 've decided to enlist in the army." With mingled +sensations of pride and responsibility, Mr. Warner replied encouragingly +that he was glad to see the man felt the call of duty. "Oh, it is n't +that," said the truthful compositor, "but I 'd rather be shot than try +to set any more of your damned copy." + +As an example of what I mean by bad MS. I take the liberty of showing +you one page of a work which, unfortunately, I had agreed to print. This +is a sample of one half of a work of 1000 MS. pages. When the author +offered me, a few years later, another work similarly prepared, I +declined, with thanks, to accept it. + +[Illustration: Handwritten copy.] + +Another illustration of careless writing I copy from "Harper's Young +People":-- + + A Massachusetts clergyman nearly got himself into a peck of + trouble because of the bad quality of his handwriting. It was + more than a century ago that he had occasion to address a letter + to the General Court of Massachusetts upon some subject of great + interest at that time. When the letter was received, the court + ordered the clerk to read it, and were filled with wrath at what + appeared to be these words in opening: "I address you not as + magistrates, but as Indian devils." + + "What!" they cried. "Read that over again. How does he address + us?" + + "Not as magistrates, but as Indian devils," repeated the clerk. + "That 's what he says." + + The letter was passed around, and the judges were by no means + pleased to see that the clerk had apparently made no mistake. + Very angry at what they believed to be an insult, the judges + passed a vote of censure upon the clergyman, and wrote to him + demanding an apology. He came before them in person, when it + turned out that where the judges had read "Indian devils" he + had written "individuals," which, of course, made an apology + unnecessary; but the reverend gentleman was admonished to + improve his handwriting if he wished to keep out of trouble. + +Still another case of "blind copy" furnished to the printer, resulted +in making the title "Pilgrim's Progress" to appear in "cold type" as +"Religious Rogues." + +The "Philadelphia Press" relates the following: "Recently an editor of +a morning paper wrote an article on the Boer question, and headed it, +'The British Army won a Victory that was Remarkable.' To his surprise he +found that the printer made it read, 'The British Army won a Victory. +_That was Remarkable!_' The infuriated editor told his foreman that he +must be in _sympathy_ with the Boers." + +Many intelligent persons regard the duty of a proof-reader as consisting +in simply following his copy and in securing the proper spelling of +words. If this, however, were the sum of his accomplishments, many an +author would come to grief. Recently an author, quoting the expression, +"God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb," attributed it to the Bible; +but the proof-reader queried the authority and wrote in the margin, +"Sterne," which the author had the good sense gratefully to accept. +Young men and women, recent graduates of colleges, have sometimes +requested me to introduce them to publishers desiring to issue +translations of certain books in foreign languages; but knowing how +superficial often is the linguistic attainment of the college graduate, +making him incapable of rendering correctly into English the spirit and +the letter of a foreign tongue, I have respectfully declined. I may say, +and with accuracy, that scarcely a translation is made which does not +show some blunder more or less appalling. + +The French word "bois" means _wood_. In a certain sentry-box several +soldiers had died, and, to prevent the supposed contagion from +spreading, Napoleon ordered the _bois_ to be burned. The translator +rendered the word _bois_ as _forest_; which would have led the reader +to suppose that the whole forest was burned. The proof-reader, after +consulting the French text, suggested the substitution of "sentry-box" +for "forest." The change was made, and the meaning of the original was +thus restored. + +A German professor, who prided himself on his knowledge not only of +the classics, but of modern languages, translated the New Testament +expression "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" into, +"The ghost indeed is willing, but the meat is bad." If he had said, in +the light of some modern achievements, "the meat is embalmed," he might +have hit the nail on the head. + +A gentleman who was in Venice when the news of the destruction of +Admiral Cervera's squadron came, and who could not make out the Italian +account very well, took the paper to a certain professor who speaks +almost perfect scholar's-English, and asked him to translate it. The +professor did so in excellent style until he came near the end, when, +with a little hesitation, he read, "And the band played _The Flag with +the Stars on it_, and _It will be very warm in the City this Evening_." +It was about a minute before the gentleman recognized the proper title +of the last piece, "There 'll be a hot Time in the old Town to-night." + +In the cases cited, and in very many others, the proof-reader has shown +himself to be "a power behind the throne;" for, without his aid, +innumerable errors would have occurred. + +A writer on Punctuation, many years ago, said that, "Perhaps there never +existed on any subject, among men of learning, a greater difference of +opinion than on the _true mode_ of punctuation, and scarcely can any two +persons be brought to agree on the same method; some making the pause of +a semicolon where the sense will only bear a comma; some contending for +what is termed stiff pointing, and others altogether the reverse." +To-day, however, this variety of opinion is less chaotic; for since then +several works on Punctuation have been published, showing that there are +rules or laws determining the construction of sentences and aiding the +reader to understand more readily the true meaning of the writer. + +As you are aware, there is a great difference between grammatical and +rhetorical punctuation. The former is for the eye, the latter for the +ear. Leading actors, in preparing their plays for the stage, always +punctuate rhetorically, to indicate to the speaker of the lines the +pauses necessary for effect. The art of true punctuation is, however, +founded on grammar, its aim being to assist the reader to discover the +true meaning of a sentence. + +To illustrate this matter of rhetorical punctuation, let me instance the +expression, "No, sir." The grammatical reading is, "No, O sir," whereas +the rhetorical reading is, "No sir." The expression "The Oak, one day, +said to the Reed," rhetorically read, will be, "The Oak one day, said to +the Reed." In the latter case, the reader makes _one day_ the name of +the oak,--putting the two nouns in apposition as meaning one thing. In +the Lord's Prayer, it is not uncommon to see a comma after the words, +_kingdom_, _power_, and _glory_; as, "For thine is the kingdom, and the +power, and the glory, forever and ever." Rhetorically, and to give force +and emphasis to each expression, a pause in reading is necessary; but, +grammatically, the comma is inaccurate. + +Writers sometimes, and frequently proof-readers, blunder in the proper +use of the exclamations, _O_ and _Oh_. The former should be used only +in cases of invocation, as, "O Lord!" "O my countrymen!"--the latter in +cases of emotion, as, "Oh that I had the wings of a dove, that I might +fly to the uttermost parts of the earth!"--"Oh for a lodge in some vast +wilderness!" + +It is not, perhaps, surprising that errors in grammar should be +frequently seen on signs; as, for instance, "House to Let," which should +be, "House to be Let." A person can "Let" the house to another; but he +who occupies it cannot say that he "Lets" it. Occasionally are seen on +painted signs the words _Billiards_, _Groceries_, with an apostrophe +before the letter _s_; and even in classic Cambridge this sign was to +be seen at one time, "Students Tickets can be had here," without the +apostrophe after the letter _s_ in the word _Students_. The other day, +in Harvard Square, was to be seen the sign, "Students Furniture," also +without the apostrophe. Under the portrait of Admiral Dewey, during his +reception in Boston, were the words, "Our Nations Hero," without the +apostrophe before the letter _s_. If authors and proof-readers +occasionally nod, why should not also the people? + +The colloquial inquiry, "Where do you live?" should be, "Where do you +reside?"--for we live _everywhere_, but we reside only at _one place_. + +A not uncommon error is made even by noted writers in the misuse of the +article _a_ before the word _historical_; as, "In a historical address +at the observance of the centennial of Washington's death." We can say, +"A history of," etc., for the accent is on the _first_ syllable; but in +the expression, "An historical," the accent being on the _second_ +syllable, good taste and euphony demand the article _an_. + +Occasionally a writer will split his infinitive; as, "We were to +cautiously and quickly advance to the hill above," instead of, "We +were to advance cautiously and quickly to the hill above;" "You must +not expect to always have things as you would like to have them," +instead of, "You must not expect to have always things as you would +like to have them." It is claimed by some writers, however, that it +is not only correct to separate the infinitive from the verb, but +that such construction adds force to the sentence; as, "A pure heart +is necessary if we wish _to thoroughly enjoy_ the beauties of nature," +in place of to _enjoy thoroughly_, etc. + +Many errors are also made by incorrect _application_ of punctuation +marks; as, for instance: An auctioneer, who had a buggy for sale, placed +the sign, "_Buggy! for Sale_," on an old bedstead near his door. In a +short time his attention was drawn to the blunder by the laughter of +some who passed. He readily perceived his error, and promptly made the +correction. Examples of this kind are countless, of which I here give a +few: "Woman, without her man, is a brute," should be, "Woman,--without +her, man is a brute." A child being asked, "Why should we love God?" +replied, "Because He makes preserves, and redeems us," when he should +have said, "Because He makes, preserves, and redeems us." A blacksmith, +passing by a barber's shop, observed in the window an imprinted placard, +which he read as follows:-- + + "What do you think? + I 'll shave you for nothing, + And give you some drink." + +The son of Vulcan, with a huge black beard on his chin, and a little +spark in his throat, accepted the invitation and entered the shop. After +the operation had been duly performed, he asked for the liquor. But the +shaver of beards demanded payment; when the smith, in a stentorian +voice, referred him to his own placard, which the barber very +good-humoredly produced, and read thus:-- + + "What! do you think + I 'll shave you for nothing, + And give you some drink?" + +Another example of the ludicrous will tend still better to show the +value of correct punctuation:-- + + "Every lady in this land + Hath twenty nails upon each hand; + Five and twenty on hands and feet. + And this is true, without deceit." + +The true meaning of the passage will at once be made clear by correct +punctuation; as,-- + + "Every lady in this land + Hath twenty nails; upon each hand + Five; and twenty on hands and feet. + And this is true, without deceit." + +The following request was once presented to a clergyman: "A sailor +going to sea, his wife desires the prayers of the congregation for +his safety." The minister, either through carelessness or short +sightedness, misread the request thus: "A sailor, going to see his +wife, desires the prayers of the congregation for his safety." + +A few days since, a gentleman wrote on a slip of paper the address of +a friend, namely: "Adolph Windermeer, Jr., care of Sylvester Windsor & +Co., New York." Not seeing any comma after the name "Sylvester" or +"Windsor," I inquired if "Sylvester" was the Christian name of +"Windsor;" to which he replied (marking in a comma), "Oh, no." + +A few of the above illustrations I have taken from my father's book on +Punctuation. + +While the rules governing punctuation are now generally adopted, there +are a few cases where printers and proof-readers disagree. In the +division of a word at the end of a line, the English prefer to divide on +the vowel, as in _ha-bit_, _pre-face_, _pro-phet_; the American, on the +consonant, as _hab-it_, _pref-ace_, _proph-et_. The former division +shows the _origin_ of the word; the latter, its _pronunciation_. Of the +two, I prefer the English style; for instance, in the word _cre-a-tion_, +of three syllables, it is better to divide on the second vowel, thus +_crea-tion_,--the syllable _tion_ being more easy to pronounce; and the +vowel at the beginning of a line being unsightly. + +It is also not uncommon, in some American books, to omit the comma +after the second noun in the case of the mention of _three_ nouns, +as in the sentence, "Industry, honesty, and temperance are essential +to happiness," and also to omit the comma after the second name in +the sign of a firm of three, as, "Little, Brown, & Co." While in +this country the omission of the comma in these instances is often +made, it by no means follows that such omission is correct. Another +difference from the English practice is that of omitting the comma +after the given number of a street, as, "274 Washington Street." In +this case, the grammatical reason for placing the comma after the +number is that there are not 274 Washington _streets_, but that the +meaning is No. 274 _of_ Washington Street. + +Many authors and printers vary also in the capitalization of certain +compound titles or names, as, the "Charles River," the "river Thames," +"New York City," the "city of Boston," the "Blue Hills," the "White +Mountains,"--the words _River_, _City_, and _Mountain_ beginning with +a capital letter or with a small letter according to their position in +the sentence. + +When two nouns are jointly used, the first serving as a _qualifying_ +adjective to the second, a hyphen should be inserted between them. +Writers and printers frequently omit the hyphen in such cases, causing +an unnecessary obscurity to the reader; thus, "Colonel Baden-Powell, +when in West Africa, fell in love with a native saying, 'Softly, softly: +catchee monkey!' which, when Anglicized, is, 'Don't flurry: patience +gains the day!'" I had some difficulty in understanding the meaning of +this pleasantry till I supplied the hyphen between the two words, +_native-saying_. When a compound title becomes very common, the two +words coalesce, as, _cornfield_, _farmyard_, _schoolhouse_, etc. + +It is not uncommon to see the titles of books, especially in the +printed catalogues of our Public Libraries, begin with a small or +lower-case letter. This style is not only incorrect, but misleading, +and corrupting good taste, and should not be adopted by men of +letters. The reason given for it, namely, _ease in reading_, is very +weak and inadequate. The plea of "good usage," urged in many cases, +is not sufficient justification of any literary practice _in itself_ +incorrect and vulgar. + +When phonetic spelling and writing come to take the place of our present +or ideographic method, the difficulties of the proof-reader will be +greatly increased. To-day it would be a difficult matter for him to +spell the expression, "Uneeda Biscuit," or to decide the correct mode of +printing the word "coffee," which sometimes appears as _kaughphy_. It is +true that phonotypy would enable the child the more easily to master the +art of spelling; but whether words meaning the same thing would be +spelled alike by all writers is very questionable, as the most common +words are frequently mispronounced; as, _sech_ for _such_, _gud_ for +_good_, _git_ for _get_, _gut_ for _got_, etc. + +With a few exceptions, the words of MS. books, to the 15th century, +run on continuously without spacing; and as to punctuation, little +or nothing was known. In the Greek works on papyrus before Christ, +there are to be found certain marks indicating pauses, such as the +wedge-shaped sign (>). In Biblical MSS., however, the division of the +text into lines enabled the reader the more easily to understand the +meaning, and was an assistance to him in public reading. As many +blunders were made by the monks in transcribing and re-transcribing the +ancient MSS., the assistance of the corrector, or proof-reader, was as +much needed then as now; the wrong words were erased with a sponge or +with a knife, and the corrected words inserted. Solomon, three thousand +years ago, said, "Of making many books there is no end; and much study +is a weariness of the flesh." This was uttered at a time when few read +or studied, and when all books were in _manuscript_, the printer's art +being then unknown. To-day everybody reads, studies, and writes; what at +one time was a "weariness of the flesh" has to-day become a pleasure and +a joy. Jeremy Belknap, in his Papers, says that there are four things +necessary to constitute a man: "first, he should build a house; second, +he should write a book; third, he should get a child; fourth, he should +plant a tree." + +Now, let us not only do all these things prescribed, but let us +supplement them by four others, which the proof-reader thinks are just +as, if not more, important; namely: let our _chirography_ be readable, +our _spelling_ correct, our _punctuation_ faultless, and our _rhetoric_ +such that "he who runs may read." + +As members of _The Odd Volume Club_, we all love not only rare, but +good books. When I enter a bookstore, or more especially a large +publishing house, like that for instance of Little, Brown, & Co., and +behold before me row upon row of books,--"a sea of upturned faces," as +it were,--my feelings are like those of a loving mother, who, with +outstretched arms, is ever ready to embrace and press to her bosom her +beloved child. I long to clasp by the hand one and all of these +attractive, silent spirits, to press them to my heart, and to exclaim, +in the words of Channing, "_God be thanked for books!_" + +These words of Channing recall an incident in my boyhood. One night, as +I was studying my lessons for the morrow, my father read to me, from +Channing's _Essay on Self Culture_, the words I have quoted, which +illustrate not only Channing's enthusiasm, but the power and influence +of books. Let me repeat a few more lines from the passage:-- + + "God be thanked for books! They are the voices of the distant + and the dead, and make us heirs of the spiritual life of past + ages. Books are the true levellers. They give to all who will + faithfully use them the society, the spiritual presence, of the + best and greatest of our race. No matter how poor I am; no + matter though the prosperous of my own time will not enter my + obscure dwelling; if the sacred writers will enter and take up + their abode under my roof,--if Milton will cross my threshold to + sing to me of Paradise; and Shakespeare to open to me the worlds + of imagination and the workings of the human heart; and Franklin + to enrich me with his practical wisdom,--I shall not pine for + want of intellectual companionship, and I may become a + cultivated man, though excluded from what is called the best + society in the place where I live." + +Byron says that "a small drop of ink may make millions think." Many +a time a book has decided the character of a man's life. A book +makes friends for you; for there springs up from its reading an +acquaintanceship not only between you and the author, but between +you and another man who reads the same book. Samuel Johnson, hearing +that a man had read Burton's "Anatomy of Melancholy," exclaimed, "If +I knew that man I could hug him." It is said that Cæsar, when +shipwrecked and in danger of drowning, did not try to save his gold, +but took his Commentaries between his teeth and swam to shore. + + * * * * * + +All these instances I have cited tend to prove how great is the +appreciation which men of culture have for those books out of which +they have drawn inspiration for their lives, or into the making of +which they have put their souls; and they all prove, also, the immense +importance of the accomplished proof-reader in helping to create for +us the books which we love. + + + * * * * * + + + Transcriber's Note: + + The spellings today and to-day, and spaced contractions have + been retained as they appear in the original book. + + Punctuation has been changed as follows: + + Page 9 "The British Army won + 'The British Army won + + Page 17 New York. Not + New York." Not + + Page 19 gains the day!' I + gains the day!'" I + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Importance of the Proof-reader, by John Wilson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PROOF-READER *** + +***** This file should be named 27583-8.txt or 27583-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/7/5/8/27583/ + +Produced by Louise Davies and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Importance of the Proof-reader + A Paper read before the Club of Odd Volumes, in Boston, by John Wilson + +Author: John Wilson + +Release Date: December 21, 2008 [EBook #27583] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PROOF-READER *** + + + + +Produced by Louise Davies and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<h1>The Importance of<br /> +the Proof-reader</h1> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 374px;"> +<img src="images/title.jpg" width="374" height="600" alt="Title Page" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center noi"> +The Importance of<br /> +the Proof-reader<br /> +<br /> +<small>A Paper read before the Club of Odd Volumes,<br /> +in Boston, by <span class="smcap">John Wilson</span></small><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +CAMBRIDGE<br /> +The University Press<br /> +<small>JOHN WILSON & SON (<span class="smcap">Inc.</span>)<br /> +1901</small></p> + + +<hr /> + +<p class="cap"><em>THIS Paper upon “The Importance of the Proof-reader” is presented with +the compliments of the University Press and the Author. The subject is +one which the Author has endeavored to emphasize during his fifty years’ +service in the printing business, and one for which the University Press +has ever endeavored to stand.</em></p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<h3><em>1922</em></h3> + +<p class="cap"><em>JOHN WILSON, author of this Paper and formerly proprietor of The +University Press, died in 1903. His successors have now the pleasure of +making a reprint, believing the subject to be of as much interest today +as it was twenty years ago.</em></p> + + + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> +The Importance of the Proof-reader</h2> + +<p class="cap">IN preparing a work for the press, the author, the compositor, and the +proof-reader are the three factors that enter into its construction. We +will, however, treat more especially of the last-named in connection +with the first.</p> + +<p>The true proof-reader should not only be a practical printer, but he +should be a lover of literature, familiar with the classics of all +languages, with the results accomplished by science, and indeed with +every subject that concerns his fellow-men. When an author prepares a +work for the press, he often uses many abbreviations, his capitalization +is frequently incorrect, his spelling occasionally not in accordance +either with Worcester or Webster, his punctuation inaccurate, his +historical and biographical statements careless, and his chirography +frequently very bad. In such cases the proof-reader is sorely tried; and +unless he is a man of much patience, well versed in the art of +deciphering incorrigible manuscripts, and supplying all their +deficiencies, his last state will, to speak mildly, be worse than his +first.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span>It is said that, when Charles Dudley Warner was the editor of the +“Hartford Press,” back in the “sixties,” arousing the patriotism of the +State with his vigorous appeals, one of the type-setters came in from +the composing-room, and, planting himself before the editor, said: +“Well, Mr. Warner, I ’ve decided to enlist in the army.” With mingled +sensations of pride and responsibility, Mr. Warner replied encouragingly +that he was glad to see the man felt the call of duty. “Oh, it is n’t +that,” said the truthful compositor, “but I ’d rather be shot than try +to set any more of your damned copy.”</p> + +<p>As an example of what I mean by bad MS. I take the liberty of showing +you one page of a work which, unfortunately, I had agreed to print. This +is a sample of one half of a work of 1000 MS. pages. When the author +offered me, a few years later, another work similarly prepared, I +declined, with thanks, to accept it.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/copys.jpg" width="400" height="300" alt="Handwritten manuscript" title="Manuscript" /> +<span class="caption"><a href="images/copyl.jpg">View larger image</a></span></div> + +<p>Another illustration of careless writing I copy from “Harper’s Young +People”:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>A Massachusetts clergyman nearly got himself into a peck of trouble +because of the bad quality of his handwriting. It was more than a +century ago that he had occasion to address a letter to the General +Court of Massachusetts upon some subject of great interest at that time. +When the letter was received, the court ordered the clerk to read it, +and were filled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> with wrath at what appeared to be these words in +opening: “I address you not as magistrates, but as Indian devils.”</p> + +<p>“What!” they cried. “Read that over again. How does he address us?”</p> + +<p>“Not as magistrates, but as Indian devils,” repeated the clerk. “That ’s +what he says.”</p> + +<p>The letter was passed around, and the judges were by no means pleased to +see that the clerk had apparently made no mistake. Very angry at what +they believed to be an insult, the judges passed a vote of censure upon +the clergyman, and wrote to him demanding an apology. He came before +them in person, when it turned out that where the judges had read +“Indian devils” he had written “individuals,” which, of course, made an +apology unnecessary; but the reverend gentleman was admonished to +improve his handwriting if he wished to keep out of trouble.</p> +</div> + +<p>Still another case of “blind copy” furnished to the printer, resulted in +making the title “Pilgrim’s Progress” to appear in “cold type” as +“Religious Rogues.”</p> + +<p>The “Philadelphia Press” relates the following: “Recently an editor of +a morning paper wrote an article on the Boer question, and headed it, +‘The British Army won a Victory that was Remarkable.’ To his surprise he +found that the printer made it read, <a name="p9" id="p9"></a><ins title="Original has double quote">‘The</ins> British Army won a Victory. +<em>That was Remarkable! </em>’ <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span>The infuriated editor told his foreman that he +must be in <em>sympathy</em> with the Boers.”</p> + +<p>Many intelligent persons regard the duty of a proof-reader as consisting +in simply following his copy and in securing the proper spelling of +words. If this, however, were the sum of his accomplishments, many an +author would come to grief. Recently an author, quoting the expression, +“God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb,” attributed it to the Bible; +but the proof-reader queried the authority and wrote in the margin, +“Sterne,” which the author had the good sense gratefully to accept. +Young men and women, recent graduates of colleges, have sometimes +requested me to introduce them to publishers desiring to issue +translations of certain books in foreign languages; but knowing how +superficial often is the linguistic attainment of the college graduate, +making him incapable of rendering correctly into English the spirit and +the letter of a foreign tongue, I have respectfully declined. I may say, +and with accuracy, that scarcely a translation is made which does not +show some blunder more or less appalling.</p> + +<p>The French word “bois” means <em>wood</em>. In a certain sentry-box several +soldiers had died, and, to prevent the supposed contagion from +spreading, Napoleon ordered the <em>bois</em> to be burned. The translator +rendered <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span>the word <em>bois</em> as <em>forest</em>; which would have led the reader to +suppose that the whole forest was burned. The proof-reader, after +consulting the French text, suggested the substitution of “sentry-box” +for “forest.” The change was made, and the meaning of the original was +thus restored.</p> + +<p>A German professor, who prided himself on his knowledge not only of the +classics, but of modern languages, translated the New Testament +expression “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” into, +“The ghost indeed is willing, but the meat is bad.” If he had said, in +the light of some modern achievements, “the meat is embalmed,” he might +have hit the nail on the head.</p> + +<p>A gentleman who was in Venice when the news of the destruction of +Admiral Cervera’s squadron came, and who could not make out the Italian +account very well, took the paper to a certain professor who speaks +almost perfect scholar’s-English, and asked him to translate it. The +professor did so in excellent style until he came near the end, when, +with a little hesitation, he read, “And the band played <em>The Flag with +the Stars on it</em>, and <em>It will be very warm in the City this Evening</em>.” +It was about a minute before the gentleman recognized the proper title +of the last piece, “There ’ll be a hot Time in the old Town to-night.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>In the cases cited, and in very many others, the proof-reader has shown +himself to be “a power behind the throne;” for, without his aid, +innumerable errors would have occurred.</p> + +<p>A writer on Punctuation, many years ago, said that, “Perhaps there never +existed on any subject, among men of learning, a greater difference of +opinion than on the <em>true mode</em> of punctuation, and scarcely can any two +persons be brought to agree on the same method; some making the pause of +a semicolon where the sense will only bear a comma; some contending for +what is termed stiff pointing, and others altogether the reverse.” +To-day, however, this variety of opinion is less chaotic; for since then +several works on Punctuation have been published, showing that there are +rules or laws determining the construction of sentences and aiding the +reader to understand more readily the true meaning of the writer.</p> + +<p>As you are aware, there is a great difference between grammatical and +rhetorical punctuation. The former is for the eye, the latter for the +ear. Leading actors, in preparing their plays for the stage, always +punctuate rhetorically, to indicate to the speaker of the lines the +pauses necessary for effect. The art of true punctuation is, however, +founded on grammar, its aim being to assist the reader to discover the +true meaning of a sentence.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>To illustrate this matter of rhetorical punctuation, let me instance the +expression, “No, sir.” The grammatical reading is, “No, O sir,” whereas +the rhetorical reading is, “No sir.” The expression “The Oak, one day, +said to the Reed,” rhetorically read, will be, “The Oak one day, said to +the Reed.” In the latter case, the reader makes <em>one day</em> the name of +the oak,—putting the two nouns in apposition as meaning one thing. In +the Lord’s Prayer, it is not uncommon to see a comma after the words, +<em>kingdom</em>, <em>power</em>, and <em>glory</em>; as, “For thine is the kingdom, and the +power, and the glory, forever and ever.” Rhetorically, and to give force +and emphasis to each expression, a pause in reading is necessary; but, +grammatically, the comma is inaccurate.</p> + +<p>Writers sometimes, and frequently proof-readers, blunder in the proper +use of the exclamations, <em>O</em> and <em>Oh</em>. The former should be used only in +cases of invocation, as, “O Lord!” “O my countrymen!”—the latter in +cases of emotion, as, “Oh that I had the wings of a dove, that I might +fly to the uttermost parts of the earth!”—“Oh for a lodge in some vast +wilderness!”</p> + +<p>It is not, perhaps, surprising that errors in grammar should be +frequently seen on signs; as, for instance, “House to Let,” which should +be, “House to be <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>Let.” A person can “Let” the house to another; but he +who occupies it cannot say that he “Lets” it. Occasionally are seen on +painted signs the words <em>Billiards</em>, <em>Groceries</em>, with an apostrophe +before the letter <em>s</em>; and even in classic Cambridge this sign was to be +seen at one time, “Students Tickets can be had here,” without the +apostrophe after the letter <em>s</em> in the word <em>Students</em>. The other day, +in Harvard Square, was to be seen the sign, “Students Furniture,” also +without the apostrophe. Under the portrait of Admiral Dewey, during his +reception in Boston, were the words, “Our Nations Hero,” without the +apostrophe before the letter <em>s</em>. If authors and proof-readers +occasionally nod, why should not also the people?</p> + +<p>The colloquial inquiry, “Where do you live?” should be, “Where do you +reside?”—for we live <em>everywhere</em>, but we reside only at <em>one place</em>.</p> + +<p>A not uncommon error is made even by noted writers in the misuse of the +article <em>a</em> before the word <em>historical</em>; as, “In a historical address +at the observance of the centennial of Washington’s death.” We can say, +“A history of,” etc., for the accent is on the <em>first</em> syllable; but in +the expression, “An historical,” the accent being on the <em>second</em> +syllable, good taste and euphony demand the article <em>an</em>.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>Occasionally a writer will split his infinitive; as, “We were to +cautiously and quickly advance to the hill above,” instead of, “We were +to advance cautiously and quickly to the hill above;” “You must not +expect to always have things as you would like to have them,” instead +of, “You must not expect to have always things as you would like to have +them.” It is claimed by some writers, however, that it is not only +correct to separate the infinitive from the verb, but that such +construction adds force to the sentence; as, “A pure heart is necessary +if we wish <em>to thoroughly enjoy</em> the beauties of nature,” in place of to +<em>enjoy thoroughly</em>, etc.</p> + +<p>Many errors are also made by incorrect <em>application</em> of punctuation +marks; as, for instance: An auctioneer, who had a buggy for sale, placed +the sign, “<em>Buggy! for Sale</em>,” on an old bedstead near his door. In a +short time his attention was drawn to the blunder by the laughter of +some who passed. He readily perceived his error, and promptly made the +correction. Examples of this kind are countless, of which I here give a +few: “Woman, without her man, is a brute,” should be, “Woman,—without +her, man is a brute.” A child being asked, “Why should we love God?” +replied, “Because He makes preserves, and redeems us,” when he should +have said, “Because He makes, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>preserves, and redeems us.” A blacksmith, +passing by a barber’s shop, observed in the window an imprinted placard, +which he read as follows:—</p> + +<div class="block"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">“What do you think?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I ’ll shave you for nothing,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And give you some drink.”<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p>The son of Vulcan, with a huge black beard on his chin, and a little +spark in his throat, accepted the invitation and entered the shop. After +the operation had been duly performed, he asked for the liquor. But the +shaver of beards demanded payment; when the smith, in a stentorian +voice, referred him to his own placard, which the barber very +good-humoredly produced, and read thus:—</p> + +<div class="block"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">“What! do you think<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I ’ll shave you for nothing,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And give you some drink?”<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p>Another example of the ludicrous will tend still better to show the +value of correct punctuation:—</p> + +<div class="block2"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="io">“Every lady in this land<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hath twenty nails upon each hand;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Five and twenty on hands and feet.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And this is true, without deceit.”<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p>The true meaning of the passage will at once be made clear by correct +punctuation; as,—</p> + +<div class="block2"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> +<span class="io">“Every lady in this land<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hath twenty nails; upon each hand<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Five; and twenty on hands and feet.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And this is true, without deceit.”<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p>The following request was once presented to a clergyman: “A sailor going +to sea, his wife desires the prayers of the congregation for his +safety.” The minister, either through carelessness or short sightedness, +misread the request thus: “A sailor, going to see his wife, desires the +prayers of the congregation for his safety.”</p> + +<p>A few days since, a gentleman wrote on a slip of paper the address of a +friend, namely: “Adolph Windermeer, Jr., care of Sylvester Windsor & +Co., New <a name="p17" id="p17"></a><ins title="Original omitted closing quote">York.”</ins> Not seeing any comma after the name “Sylvester” or +“Windsor,” I inquired if “Sylvester” was the Christian name of +“Windsor;” to which he replied (marking in a comma), “Oh, no.”</p> + +<p>A few of the above illustrations I have taken from my father’s book on +Punctuation.</p> + +<p>While the rules governing punctuation are now generally adopted, there +are a few cases where printers and proof-readers disagree. In the +division of a word at the end of a line, the English prefer to divide on +the vowel, as in <em>ha-bit</em>, <em>pre-face</em>, <em>pro-phet</em>; the American, on the +consonant, as <em>hab-it</em>, <em>pref-ace</em>, <em>proph-et</em>. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>The former division +shows the <em>origin</em> of the word; the latter, its <em>pronunciation</em>. Of the +two, I prefer the English style; for instance, in the word <em>cre-a-tion</em>, +of three syllables, it is better to divide on the second vowel, thus +<em>crea-tion</em>,—the syllable <em>tion</em> being more easy to pronounce; and the +vowel at the beginning of a line being unsightly.</p> + +<p>It is also not uncommon, in some American books, to omit the comma after +the second noun in the case of the mention of <em>three</em> nouns, as in the +sentence, “Industry, honesty, and temperance are essential to +happiness,” and also to omit the comma after the second name in the sign +of a firm of three, as, “Little, Brown, & Co.” While in this country the +omission of the comma in these instances is often made, it by no means +follows that such omission is correct. Another difference from the +English practice is that of omitting the comma after the given number of +a street, as, “274 Washington Street.” In this case, the grammatical +reason for placing the comma after the number is that there are not 274 +Washington <em>streets</em>, but that the meaning is No. 274 <em>of</em> Washington +Street.</p> + +<p>Many authors and printers vary also in the capitalization of certain +compound titles or names, as, the “Charles River,” <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>the “river Thames,” +“New York City,” the “city of Boston,” the “Blue Hills,” the “White +Mountains,”—the words <em>River</em>, <em>City</em>, and <em>Mountain</em> beginning with a +capital letter or with a small letter according to their position in the +sentence.</p> + +<p>When two nouns are jointly used, the first serving as a <em>qualifying</em> +adjective to the second, a hyphen should be inserted between them. +Writers and printers frequently omit the hyphen in such cases, causing +an unnecessary obscurity to the reader; thus, “Colonel Baden-Powell, +when in West Africa, fell in love with a native saying, ‘Softly, softly: +catchee monkey!’ which, when Anglicized, is, ‘Don’t flurry: patience +gains the <a name="p19" id="p19"></a><ins title="Original omits closing double quote">day!’”</ins> I had some difficulty in understanding the meaning of +this pleasantry till I supplied the hyphen between the two words, +<em>native-saying</em>. When a compound title becomes very common, the two +words coalesce, as, <em>cornfield</em>, <em>farmyard</em>, <em>schoolhouse</em>, etc.</p> + +<p>It is not uncommon to see the titles of books, especially in the +printed catalogues of our Public Libraries, begin with a small or +lower-case letter. This style is not only incorrect, but misleading, and +corrupting good taste, and should not be adopted by men of letters. The +reason given for it, namely, <em>ease in reading</em>, is very weak and +inadequate. The plea of “good usage,” urged in many cases, is not +sufficient <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>justification of any literary practice <em>in itself</em> incorrect +and vulgar.</p> + +<p>When phonetic spelling and writing come to take the place of our present +or ideographic method, the difficulties of the proof-reader will be +greatly increased. To-day it would be a difficult matter for him to +spell the expression, “Uneeda Biscuit,” or to decide the correct mode of +printing the word “coffee,” which sometimes appears as <em>kaughphy</em>. It is +true that phonotypy would enable the child the more easily to master the +art of spelling; but whether words meaning the same thing would be +spelled alike by all writers is very questionable, as the most common +words are frequently mispronounced; as, <em>sech</em> for <em>such</em>, <em>gud</em> for +<em>good</em>, <em>git</em> for <em>get</em>, <em>gut</em> for <em>got</em>, etc.</p> + +<p>With a few exceptions, the words of MS. books, to the 15th century, run +on continuously without spacing; and as to punctuation, little or +nothing was known. In the Greek works on papyrus before Christ, there +are to be found certain marks indicating pauses, such as the +wedge-shaped sign <big>(>)</big>. In Biblical MSS., however, the division of the +text into lines enabled the reader the more easily to understand the +meaning, and was an assistance to him in public reading. As many +blunders were made by the monks in transcribing and re-transcribing the +ancient MSS., the assistance of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>corrector, or proof-reader, was as +much needed then as now; the wrong words were erased with a sponge or +with a knife, and the corrected words inserted. Solomon, three thousand +years ago, said, “Of making many books there is no end; and much study +is a weariness of the flesh.” This was uttered at a time when few read +or studied, and when all books were in <em>manuscript</em>, the printer’s art +being then unknown. To-day everybody reads, studies, and writes; what at +one time was a “weariness of the flesh” has to-day become a pleasure and +a joy. Jeremy Belknap, in his Papers, says that there are four things +necessary to constitute a man: “first, he should build a house; second, +he should write a book; third, he should get a child; fourth, he should +plant a tree.”</p> + +<p>Now, let us not only do all these things prescribed, but let us +supplement them by four others, which the proof-reader thinks are just +as, if not more, important; namely: let our <em>chirography</em> be readable, +our <em>spelling</em> correct, our <em>punctuation</em> faultless, and our <em>rhetoric</em> +such that “he who runs may read.”</p> + +<p>As members of <em>The Odd Volume Club</em>, we all love not only rare, but +good books. When I enter a bookstore, or more especially a large +publishing house, like that for instance of Little, Brown, & Co., and +behold before me row upon row of books,—“a sea of upturned <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>faces,” as +it were,—my feelings are like those of a loving mother, who, with +outstretched arms, is ever ready to embrace and press to her bosom her +beloved child. I long to clasp by the hand one and all of these +attractive, silent spirits, to press them to my heart, and to exclaim, +in the words of Channing, “<em>God be thanked for books! </em>”</p> + +<p>These words of Channing recall an incident in my boyhood. One night, as +I was studying my lessons for the morrow, my father read to me, from +Channing’s <em>Essay on Self Culture</em>, the words I have quoted, which +illustrate not only Channing’s enthusiasm, but the power and influence +of books. Let me repeat a few more lines from the passage:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>“God be thanked for books! They are the voices of the distant and the +dead, and make us heirs of the spiritual life of past ages. Books are +the true levellers. They give to all who will faithfully use them the +society, the spiritual presence, of the best and greatest of our race. +No matter how poor I am; no matter though the prosperous of my own time +will not enter my obscure dwelling; if the sacred writers will enter and +take up their abode under my roof,—if Milton will cross my threshold to +sing to me of Paradise; and Shakespeare to open to me the worlds of +imagination and the workings of the human heart; and Franklin to enrich +me with his practical wisdom,—I shall not pine for want of intellectual +companionship, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>and I may become a cultivated man, though excluded from +what is called the best society in the place where I live.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Byron says that “a small drop of ink may make millions think.” Many a +time a book has decided the character of a man’s life. A book makes +friends for you; for there springs up from its reading an +acquaintanceship not only between you and the author, but between you +and another man who reads the same book. Samuel Johnson, hearing that a +man had read Burton’s “Anatomy of Melancholy,” exclaimed, “If I knew +that man I could hug him.” It is said that Cæsar, when shipwrecked and +in danger of drowning, did not try to save his gold, but took his +Commentaries between his teeth and swam to shore.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p>All these instances I have cited tend to prove how great is the +appreciation which men of culture have for those books out of which they +have drawn inspiration for their lives, or into the making of which they +have put their souls; and they all prove, also, the immense importance +of the accomplished proof-reader in helping to create for us the books +which we love.</p> + +<div class="tn"> +<p class="center"><strong>Transcriber’s Note:</strong></p> + +<p class="noi">The spellings today and to-day, and spaced contractions +have been retained as they +appear in the original book.</p> + +<p class="noi">Punctuation has been changed as follows:</p> + +<table summary="punctuation changes"> +<tr> +<td class="pr"><a href="#p9">Page 9</a></td> +<td>“The British Army won</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td></td> +<td>‘The British Army won</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="pr"><a href="#p17">Page 17</a></td> +<td>New York. Not</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td></td> +<td>New York.” Not</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="pr"><a href="#p19">Page 19</a></td> +<td>gains the day!’ I</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td></td> +<td>gains the day!’” I</td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Importance of the Proof-reader, by John Wilson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PROOF-READER *** + +***** This file should be named 27583-h.htm or 27583-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/7/5/8/27583/ + +Produced by Louise Davies and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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diff --git a/27583-page-images/p022.png b/27583-page-images/p022.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..605fb18 --- /dev/null +++ b/27583-page-images/p022.png diff --git a/27583-page-images/p023.png b/27583-page-images/p023.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f84e536 --- /dev/null +++ b/27583-page-images/p023.png diff --git a/27583.txt b/27583.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2f4a9ac --- /dev/null +++ b/27583.txt @@ -0,0 +1,855 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Importance of the Proof-reader, by John Wilson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Importance of the Proof-reader + A Paper read before the Club of Odd Volumes, in Boston, by John Wilson + +Author: John Wilson + +Release Date: December 21, 2008 [EBook #27583] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PROOF-READER *** + + + + +Produced by Louise Davies and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + + The Importance of + the Proof-reader + + A Paper read before the Club of Odd Volumes, + in Boston, by JOHN WILSON + + + CAMBRIDGE + The University Press + JOHN WILSON & SON (INC.) + 1901 + + + + + _This Paper upon "The Importance of the Proof-reader" is + presented with the compliments of the University Press and the + Author. The subject is one which the Author has endeavored to + emphasize during his fifty years' service in the printing + business, and one for which the University Press has ever + endeavored to stand._ + + + _1922_ + + _John Wilson, author of this Paper and formerly proprietor of + The University Press, died in 1903. His successors have now the + pleasure of making a reprint, believing the subject to be of as + much interest today as it was twenty years ago._ + + + + +THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PROOF-READER + + +In preparing a work for the press, the author, the compositor, and the +proof-reader are the three factors that enter into its construction. We +will, however, treat more especially of the last-named in connection +with the first. + +The true proof-reader should not only be a practical printer, but he +should be a lover of literature, familiar with the classics of all +languages, with the results accomplished by science, and indeed with +every subject that concerns his fellow-men. When an author prepares a +work for the press, he often uses many abbreviations, his capitalization +is frequently incorrect, his spelling occasionally not in accordance +either with Worcester or Webster, his punctuation inaccurate, his +historical and biographical statements careless, and his chirography +frequently very bad. In such cases the proof-reader is sorely tried; +and unless he is a man of much patience, well versed in the art of +deciphering incorrigible manuscripts, and supplying all their +deficiencies, his last state will, to speak mildly, be worse than +his first. + +It is said that, when Charles Dudley Warner was the editor of the +"Hartford Press," back in the "sixties," arousing the patriotism of the +State with his vigorous appeals, one of the type-setters came in from +the composing-room, and, planting himself before the editor, said: +"Well, Mr. Warner, I've decided to enlist in the army." With mingled +sensations of pride and responsibility, Mr. Warner replied encouragingly +that he was glad to see the man felt the call of duty. "Oh, it isn't +that," said the truthful compositor, "but I'd rather be shot than try +to set any more of your damned copy." + +As an example of what I mean by bad MS. I take the liberty of showing +you one page of a work which, unfortunately, I had agreed to print. This +is a sample of one half of a work of 1000 MS. pages. When the author +offered me, a few years later, another work similarly prepared, I +declined, with thanks, to accept it. + +[Illustration: Handwritten copy.] + +Another illustration of careless writing I copy from "Harper's Young +People":-- + + A Massachusetts clergyman nearly got himself into a peck of + trouble because of the bad quality of his handwriting. It was + more than a century ago that he had occasion to address a letter + to the General Court of Massachusetts upon some subject of great + interest at that time. When the letter was received, the court + ordered the clerk to read it, and were filled with wrath at what + appeared to be these words in opening: "I address you not as + magistrates, but as Indian devils." + + "What!" they cried. "Read that over again. How does he address + us?" + + "Not as magistrates, but as Indian devils," repeated the clerk. + "That's what he says." + + The letter was passed around, and the judges were by no means + pleased to see that the clerk had apparently made no mistake. + Very angry at what they believed to be an insult, the judges + passed a vote of censure upon the clergyman, and wrote to him + demanding an apology. He came before them in person, when it + turned out that where the judges had read "Indian devils" he + had written "individuals," which, of course, made an apology + unnecessary; but the reverend gentleman was admonished to + improve his handwriting if he wished to keep out of trouble. + +Still another case of "blind copy" furnished to the printer, resulted +in making the title "Pilgrim's Progress" to appear in "cold type" as +"Religious Rogues." + +The "Philadelphia Press" relates the following: "Recently an editor of +a morning paper wrote an article on the Boer question, and headed it, +'The British Army won a Victory that was Remarkable.' To his surprise he +found that the printer made it read, 'The British Army won a Victory. +_That was Remarkable!_' The infuriated editor told his foreman that he +must be in _sympathy_ with the Boers." + +Many intelligent persons regard the duty of a proof-reader as consisting +in simply following his copy and in securing the proper spelling of +words. If this, however, were the sum of his accomplishments, many an +author would come to grief. Recently an author, quoting the expression, +"God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb," attributed it to the Bible; +but the proof-reader queried the authority and wrote in the margin, +"Sterne," which the author had the good sense gratefully to accept. +Young men and women, recent graduates of colleges, have sometimes +requested me to introduce them to publishers desiring to issue +translations of certain books in foreign languages; but knowing how +superficial often is the linguistic attainment of the college graduate, +making him incapable of rendering correctly into English the spirit and +the letter of a foreign tongue, I have respectfully declined. I may say, +and with accuracy, that scarcely a translation is made which does not +show some blunder more or less appalling. + +The French word "bois" means _wood_. In a certain sentry-box several +soldiers had died, and, to prevent the supposed contagion from +spreading, Napoleon ordered the _bois_ to be burned. The translator +rendered the word _bois_ as _forest_; which would have led the reader +to suppose that the whole forest was burned. The proof-reader, after +consulting the French text, suggested the substitution of "sentry-box" +for "forest." The change was made, and the meaning of the original was +thus restored. + +A German professor, who prided himself on his knowledge not only of +the classics, but of modern languages, translated the New Testament +expression "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" into, +"The ghost indeed is willing, but the meat is bad." If he had said, in +the light of some modern achievements, "the meat is embalmed," he might +have hit the nail on the head. + +A gentleman who was in Venice when the news of the destruction of +Admiral Cervera's squadron came, and who could not make out the Italian +account very well, took the paper to a certain professor who speaks +almost perfect scholar's-English, and asked him to translate it. The +professor did so in excellent style until he came near the end, when, +with a little hesitation, he read, "And the band played _The Flag with +the Stars on it_, and _It will be very warm in the City this Evening_." +It was about a minute before the gentleman recognized the proper title +of the last piece, "There'll be a hot Time in the old Town to-night." + +In the cases cited, and in very many others, the proof-reader has shown +himself to be "a power behind the throne;" for, without his aid, +innumerable errors would have occurred. + +A writer on Punctuation, many years ago, said that, "Perhaps there never +existed on any subject, among men of learning, a greater difference of +opinion than on the _true mode_ of punctuation, and scarcely can any two +persons be brought to agree on the same method; some making the pause of +a semicolon where the sense will only bear a comma; some contending for +what is termed stiff pointing, and others altogether the reverse." +To-day, however, this variety of opinion is less chaotic; for since then +several works on Punctuation have been published, showing that there are +rules or laws determining the construction of sentences and aiding the +reader to understand more readily the true meaning of the writer. + +As you are aware, there is a great difference between grammatical and +rhetorical punctuation. The former is for the eye, the latter for the +ear. Leading actors, in preparing their plays for the stage, always +punctuate rhetorically, to indicate to the speaker of the lines the +pauses necessary for effect. The art of true punctuation is, however, +founded on grammar, its aim being to assist the reader to discover the +true meaning of a sentence. + +To illustrate this matter of rhetorical punctuation, let me instance the +expression, "No, sir." The grammatical reading is, "No, O sir," whereas +the rhetorical reading is, "No sir." The expression "The Oak, one day, +said to the Reed," rhetorically read, will be, "The Oak one day, said to +the Reed." In the latter case, the reader makes _one day_ the name of +the oak,--putting the two nouns in apposition as meaning one thing. In +the Lord's Prayer, it is not uncommon to see a comma after the words, +_kingdom_, _power_, and _glory_; as, "For thine is the kingdom, and the +power, and the glory, forever and ever." Rhetorically, and to give force +and emphasis to each expression, a pause in reading is necessary; but, +grammatically, the comma is inaccurate. + +Writers sometimes, and frequently proof-readers, blunder in the proper +use of the exclamations, _O_ and _Oh_. The former should be used only +in cases of invocation, as, "O Lord!" "O my countrymen!"--the latter in +cases of emotion, as, "Oh that I had the wings of a dove, that I might +fly to the uttermost parts of the earth!"--"Oh for a lodge in some vast +wilderness!" + +It is not, perhaps, surprising that errors in grammar should be +frequently seen on signs; as, for instance, "House to Let," which should +be, "House to be Let." A person can "Let" the house to another; but he +who occupies it cannot say that he "Lets" it. Occasionally are seen on +painted signs the words _Billiards_, _Groceries_, with an apostrophe +before the letter _s_; and even in classic Cambridge this sign was to +be seen at one time, "Students Tickets can be had here," without the +apostrophe after the letter _s_ in the word _Students_. The other day, +in Harvard Square, was to be seen the sign, "Students Furniture," also +without the apostrophe. Under the portrait of Admiral Dewey, during his +reception in Boston, were the words, "Our Nations Hero," without the +apostrophe before the letter _s_. If authors and proof-readers +occasionally nod, why should not also the people? + +The colloquial inquiry, "Where do you live?" should be, "Where do you +reside?"--for we live _everywhere_, but we reside only at _one place_. + +A not uncommon error is made even by noted writers in the misuse of the +article _a_ before the word _historical_; as, "In a historical address +at the observance of the centennial of Washington's death." We can say, +"A history of," etc., for the accent is on the _first_ syllable; but in +the expression, "An historical," the accent being on the _second_ +syllable, good taste and euphony demand the article _an_. + +Occasionally a writer will split his infinitive; as, "We were to +cautiously and quickly advance to the hill above," instead of, "We +were to advance cautiously and quickly to the hill above;" "You must +not expect to always have things as you would like to have them," +instead of, "You must not expect to have always things as you would +like to have them." It is claimed by some writers, however, that it +is not only correct to separate the infinitive from the verb, but +that such construction adds force to the sentence; as, "A pure heart +is necessary if we wish _to thoroughly enjoy_ the beauties of nature," +in place of to _enjoy thoroughly_, etc. + +Many errors are also made by incorrect _application_ of punctuation +marks; as, for instance: An auctioneer, who had a buggy for sale, placed +the sign, "_Buggy! for Sale_," on an old bedstead near his door. In a +short time his attention was drawn to the blunder by the laughter of +some who passed. He readily perceived his error, and promptly made the +correction. Examples of this kind are countless, of which I here give a +few: "Woman, without her man, is a brute," should be, "Woman,--without +her, man is a brute." A child being asked, "Why should we love God?" +replied, "Because He makes preserves, and redeems us," when he should +have said, "Because He makes, preserves, and redeems us." A blacksmith, +passing by a barber's shop, observed in the window an imprinted placard, +which he read as follows:-- + + "What do you think? + I'll shave you for nothing, + And give you some drink." + +The son of Vulcan, with a huge black beard on his chin, and a little +spark in his throat, accepted the invitation and entered the shop. After +the operation had been duly performed, he asked for the liquor. But the +shaver of beards demanded payment; when the smith, in a stentorian +voice, referred him to his own placard, which the barber very +good-humoredly produced, and read thus:-- + + "What! do you think + I'll shave you for nothing, + And give you some drink?" + +Another example of the ludicrous will tend still better to show the +value of correct punctuation:-- + + "Every lady in this land + Hath twenty nails upon each hand; + Five and twenty on hands and feet. + And this is true, without deceit." + +The true meaning of the passage will at once be made clear by correct +punctuation; as,-- + + "Every lady in this land + Hath twenty nails; upon each hand + Five; and twenty on hands and feet. + And this is true, without deceit." + +The following request was once presented to a clergyman: "A sailor +going to sea, his wife desires the prayers of the congregation for +his safety." The minister, either through carelessness or short +sightedness, misread the request thus: "A sailor, going to see his +wife, desires the prayers of the congregation for his safety." + +A few days since, a gentleman wrote on a slip of paper the address of +a friend, namely: "Adolph Windermeer, Jr., care of Sylvester Windsor & +Co., New York." Not seeing any comma after the name "Sylvester" or +"Windsor," I inquired if "Sylvester" was the Christian name of +"Windsor;" to which he replied (marking in a comma), "Oh, no." + +A few of the above illustrations I have taken from my father's book on +Punctuation. + +While the rules governing punctuation are now generally adopted, there +are a few cases where printers and proof-readers disagree. In the +division of a word at the end of a line, the English prefer to divide on +the vowel, as in _ha-bit_, _pre-face_, _pro-phet_; the American, on the +consonant, as _hab-it_, _pref-ace_, _proph-et_. The former division +shows the _origin_ of the word; the latter, its _pronunciation_. Of the +two, I prefer the English style; for instance, in the word _cre-a-tion_, +of three syllables, it is better to divide on the second vowel, thus +_crea-tion_,--the syllable _tion_ being more easy to pronounce; and the +vowel at the beginning of a line being unsightly. + +It is also not uncommon, in some American books, to omit the comma +after the second noun in the case of the mention of _three_ nouns, +as in the sentence, "Industry, honesty, and temperance are essential +to happiness," and also to omit the comma after the second name in +the sign of a firm of three, as, "Little, Brown, & Co." While in +this country the omission of the comma in these instances is often +made, it by no means follows that such omission is correct. Another +difference from the English practice is that of omitting the comma +after the given number of a street, as, "274 Washington Street." In +this case, the grammatical reason for placing the comma after the +number is that there are not 274 Washington _streets_, but that the +meaning is No. 274 _of_ Washington Street. + +Many authors and printers vary also in the capitalization of certain +compound titles or names, as, the "Charles River," the "river Thames," +"New York City," the "city of Boston," the "Blue Hills," the "White +Mountains,"--the words _River_, _City_, and _Mountain_ beginning with +a capital letter or with a small letter according to their position in +the sentence. + +When two nouns are jointly used, the first serving as a _qualifying_ +adjective to the second, a hyphen should be inserted between them. +Writers and printers frequently omit the hyphen in such cases, causing +an unnecessary obscurity to the reader; thus, "Colonel Baden-Powell, +when in West Africa, fell in love with a native saying, 'Softly, softly: +catchee monkey!' which, when Anglicized, is, 'Don't flurry: patience +gains the day!'" I had some difficulty in understanding the meaning of +this pleasantry till I supplied the hyphen between the two words, +_native-saying_. When a compound title becomes very common, the two +words coalesce, as, _cornfield_, _farmyard_, _schoolhouse_, etc. + +It is not uncommon to see the titles of books, especially in the +printed catalogues of our Public Libraries, begin with a small or +lower-case letter. This style is not only incorrect, but misleading, +and corrupting good taste, and should not be adopted by men of +letters. The reason given for it, namely, _ease in reading_, is very +weak and inadequate. The plea of "good usage," urged in many cases, +is not sufficient justification of any literary practice _in itself_ +incorrect and vulgar. + +When phonetic spelling and writing come to take the place of our present +or ideographic method, the difficulties of the proof-reader will be +greatly increased. To-day it would be a difficult matter for him to +spell the expression, "Uneeda Biscuit," or to decide the correct mode of +printing the word "coffee," which sometimes appears as _kaughphy_. It is +true that phonotypy would enable the child the more easily to master the +art of spelling; but whether words meaning the same thing would be +spelled alike by all writers is very questionable, as the most common +words are frequently mispronounced; as, _sech_ for _such_, _gud_ for +_good_, _git_ for _get_, _gut_ for _got_, etc. + +With a few exceptions, the words of MS. books, to the 15th century, +run on continuously without spacing; and as to punctuation, little +or nothing was known. In the Greek works on papyrus before Christ, +there are to be found certain marks indicating pauses, such as the +wedge-shaped sign (>). In Biblical MSS., however, the division of the +text into lines enabled the reader the more easily to understand the +meaning, and was an assistance to him in public reading. As many +blunders were made by the monks in transcribing and re-transcribing the +ancient MSS., the assistance of the corrector, or proof-reader, was as +much needed then as now; the wrong words were erased with a sponge or +with a knife, and the corrected words inserted. Solomon, three thousand +years ago, said, "Of making many books there is no end; and much study +is a weariness of the flesh." This was uttered at a time when few read +or studied, and when all books were in _manuscript_, the printer's art +being then unknown. To-day everybody reads, studies, and writes; what at +one time was a "weariness of the flesh" has to-day become a pleasure and +a joy. Jeremy Belknap, in his Papers, says that there are four things +necessary to constitute a man: "first, he should build a house; second, +he should write a book; third, he should get a child; fourth, he should +plant a tree." + +Now, let us not only do all these things prescribed, but let us +supplement them by four others, which the proof-reader thinks are just +as, if not more, important; namely: let our _chirography_ be readable, +our _spelling_ correct, our _punctuation_ faultless, and our _rhetoric_ +such that "he who runs may read." + +As members of _The Odd Volume Club_, we all love not only rare, but +good books. When I enter a bookstore, or more especially a large +publishing house, like that for instance of Little, Brown, & Co., and +behold before me row upon row of books,--"a sea of upturned faces," as +it were,--my feelings are like those of a loving mother, who, with +outstretched arms, is ever ready to embrace and press to her bosom her +beloved child. I long to clasp by the hand one and all of these +attractive, silent spirits, to press them to my heart, and to exclaim, +in the words of Channing, "_God be thanked for books!_" + +These words of Channing recall an incident in my boyhood. One night, as +I was studying my lessons for the morrow, my father read to me, from +Channing's _Essay on Self Culture_, the words I have quoted, which +illustrate not only Channing's enthusiasm, but the power and influence +of books. Let me repeat a few more lines from the passage:-- + + "God be thanked for books! They are the voices of the distant + and the dead, and make us heirs of the spiritual life of past + ages. Books are the true levellers. They give to all who will + faithfully use them the society, the spiritual presence, of the + best and greatest of our race. No matter how poor I am; no + matter though the prosperous of my own time will not enter my + obscure dwelling; if the sacred writers will enter and take up + their abode under my roof,--if Milton will cross my threshold to + sing to me of Paradise; and Shakespeare to open to me the worlds + of imagination and the workings of the human heart; and Franklin + to enrich me with his practical wisdom,--I shall not pine for + want of intellectual companionship, and I may become a + cultivated man, though excluded from what is called the best + society in the place where I live." + +Byron says that "a small drop of ink may make millions think." Many +a time a book has decided the character of a man's life. A book +makes friends for you; for there springs up from its reading an +acquaintanceship not only between you and the author, but between +you and another man who reads the same book. Samuel Johnson, hearing +that a man had read Burton's "Anatomy of Melancholy," exclaimed, "If +I knew that man I could hug him." It is said that Caesar, when +shipwrecked and in danger of drowning, did not try to save his gold, +but took his Commentaries between his teeth and swam to shore. + + * * * * * + +All these instances I have cited tend to prove how great is the +appreciation which men of culture have for those books out of which +they have drawn inspiration for their lives, or into the making of +which they have put their souls; and they all prove, also, the immense +importance of the accomplished proof-reader in helping to create for +us the books which we love. + + + * * * * * + + + Transcriber's Note: + + The spellings today and to-day have been retained as they + appear in the original book. + + Punctuation has been changed as follows: + + Page 9 "The British Army won + 'The British Army won + + Page 17 New York. Not + New York." Not + + Page 19 gains the day!' I + gains the day!'" I + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Importance of the Proof-reader, by John Wilson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PROOF-READER *** + +***** This file should be named 27583.txt or 27583.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/7/5/8/27583/ + +Produced by Louise Davies and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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