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 theproof-reader are the three factors that enter into its construction. Wewill, however, treat more especially of the last-named in connectionwith the first. The true proof-reader should not only be a practical printer, but heshould be a lover of literature, familiar with the classics of alllanguages, with the results accomplished by science, and indeed withevery subject that concerns his fellow-men. When an author prepares awork for the press, he often uses many abbreviations, his capitalizationis frequently incorrect, his spelling occasionally not in accordanceeither with Worcester or Webster, his punctuation inaccurate, hishistorical and biographical statements careless, and his chirographyfrequently 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 ofdeciphering incorrigible manuscripts, and supplying all theirdeficiencies, his last state will, to speak mildly, be worse thanhis first. It is said that, when Charles Dudley Warner was the editor of the"Hartford Press, " back in the "sixties, " arousing the patriotism of theState with his vigorous appeals, one of the type-setters came in fromthe composing-room, and, planting himself before the editor, said:"Well, Mr. Warner, I 've decided to enlist in the army. " With mingledsensations of pride and responsibility, Mr. Warner replied encouraginglythat he was glad to see the man felt the call of duty. "Oh, it is n'tthat, " said the truthful compositor, "but I 'd rather be shot than tryto set any more of your damned copy. " As an example of what I mean by bad MS. I take the liberty of showingyou one page of a work which, unfortunately, I had agreed to print. Thisis a sample of one half of a work of 1000 MS. Pages. When the authoroffered me, a few years later, another work similarly prepared, Ideclined, with thanks, to accept it. [Illustration: Handwritten copy. ] Another illustration of careless writing I copy from "Harper's YoungPeople":-- 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, resultedin making the title "Pilgrim's Progress" to appear in "cold type" as"Religious Rogues. " The "Philadelphia Press" relates the following: "Recently an editor ofa morning paper wrote an article on the Boer question, and headed it, 'The British Army won a Victory that was Remarkable. ' To his surprise hefound that the printer made it read, 'The British Army won a Victory. _That was Remarkable!_' The infuriated editor told his foreman that hemust be in _sympathy_ with the Boers. " Many intelligent persons regard the duty of a proof-reader as consistingin simply following his copy and in securing the proper spelling ofwords. If this, however, were the sum of his accomplishments, many anauthor 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 sometimesrequested me to introduce them to publishers desiring to issuetranslations of certain books in foreign languages; but knowing howsuperficial often is the linguistic attainment of the college graduate, making him incapable of rendering correctly into English the spirit andthe letter of a foreign tongue, I have respectfully declined. I may say, and with accuracy, that scarcely a translation is made which does notshow some blunder more or less appalling. The French word "bois" means _wood_. In a certain sentry-box severalsoldiers had died, and, to prevent the supposed contagion fromspreading, Napoleon ordered the _bois_ to be burned. The translatorrendered the word _bois_ as _forest_; which would have led the readerto suppose that the whole forest was burned. The proof-reader, afterconsulting the French text, suggested the substitution of "sentry-box"for "forest. " The change was made, and the meaning of the original wasthus restored. A German professor, who prided himself on his knowledge not only ofthe classics, but of modern languages, translated the New Testamentexpression "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, inthe light of some modern achievements, "the meat is embalmed, " he mighthave hit the nail on the head. A gentleman who was in Venice when the news of the destruction ofAdmiral Cervera's squadron came, and who could not make out the Italianaccount very well, took the paper to a certain professor who speaksalmost perfect scholar's-English, and asked him to translate it. Theprofessor did so in excellent style until he came near the end, when, with a little hesitation, he read, "And the band played _The Flag withthe 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 titleof 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 shownhimself 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 neverexisted on any subject, among men of learning, a greater difference ofopinion than on the _true mode_ of punctuation, and scarcely can any twopersons be brought to agree on the same method; some making the pause ofa semicolon where the sense will only bear a comma; some contending forwhat is termed stiff pointing, and others altogether the reverse. "To-day, however, this variety of opinion is less chaotic; for since thenseveral works on Punctuation have been published, showing that there arerules or laws determining the construction of sentences and aiding thereader to understand more readily the true meaning of the writer. As you are aware, there is a great difference between grammatical andrhetorical punctuation. The former is for the eye, the latter for theear. Leading actors, in preparing their plays for the stage, alwayspunctuate rhetorically, to indicate to the speaker of the lines thepauses necessary for effect. The art of true punctuation is, however, founded on grammar, its aim being to assist the reader to discover thetrue meaning of a sentence. To illustrate this matter of rhetorical punctuation, let me instance theexpression, "No, sir. " The grammatical reading is, "No, O sir, " whereasthe rhetorical reading is, "No sir. " The expression "The Oak, one day, said to the Reed, " rhetorically read, will be, "The Oak one day, said tothe Reed. " In the latter case, the reader makes _one day_ the name ofthe oak, --putting the two nouns in apposition as meaning one thing. Inthe 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 thepower, and the glory, forever and ever. " Rhetorically, and to give forceand 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 properuse of the exclamations, _O_ and _Oh_. The former should be used onlyin cases of invocation, as, "O Lord!" "O my countrymen!"--the latter incases of emotion, as, "Oh that I had the wings of a dove, that I mightfly to the uttermost parts of the earth!"--"Oh for a lodge in some vastwilderness!" It is not, perhaps, surprising that errors in grammar should befrequently seen on signs; as, for instance, "House to Let, " which shouldbe, "House to be Let. " A person can "Let" the house to another; but hewho occupies it cannot say that he "Lets" it. Occasionally are seen onpainted signs the words _Billiards_, _Groceries_, with an apostrophebefore the letter _s_; and even in classic Cambridge this sign was tobe seen at one time, "Students Tickets can be had here, " without theapostrophe after the letter _s_ in the word _Students_. The other day, in Harvard Square, was to be seen the sign, "Students Furniture, " alsowithout the apostrophe. Under the portrait of Admiral Dewey, during hisreception in Boston, were the words, "Our Nations Hero, " without theapostrophe before the letter _s_. If authors and proof-readersoccasionally nod, why should not also the people? The colloquial inquiry, "Where do you live?" should be, "Where do youreside?"--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 thearticle _a_ before the word _historical_; as, "In a historical addressat 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 inthe 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 tocautiously and quickly advance to the hill above, " instead of, "Wewere to advance cautiously and quickly to the hill above;" "You mustnot expect to always have things as you would like to have them, "instead of, "You must not expect to have always things as you wouldlike to have them. " It is claimed by some writers, however, that itis not only correct to separate the infinitive from the verb, butthat such construction adds force to the sentence; as, "A pure heartis 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 punctuationmarks; as, for instance: An auctioneer, who had a buggy for sale, placedthe sign, "_Buggy! for Sale_, " on an old bedstead near his door. In ashort time his attention was drawn to the blunder by the laughter ofsome who passed. He readily perceived his error, and promptly made thecorrection. Examples of this kind are countless, of which I here give afew: "Woman, without her man, is a brute, " should be, "Woman, --withouther, man is a brute. " A child being asked, "Why should we love God?"replied, "Because He makes preserves, and redeems us, " when he shouldhave 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 littlespark in his throat, accepted the invitation and entered the shop. Afterthe operation had been duly performed, he asked for the liquor. But theshaver of beards demanded payment; when the smith, in a stentorianvoice, referred him to his own placard, which the barber verygood-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 thevalue 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 correctpunctuation; 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 sailorgoing to sea, his wife desires the prayers of the congregation forhis safety. " The minister, either through carelessness or shortsightedness, misread the request thus: "A sailor, going to see hiswife, desires the prayers of the congregation for his safety. " A few days since, a gentleman wrote on a slip of paper the address ofa 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 onPunctuation. While the rules governing punctuation are now generally adopted, thereare a few cases where printers and proof-readers disagree. In thedivision of a word at the end of a line, the English prefer to divide onthe vowel, as in _ha-bit_, _pre-face_, _pro-phet_; the American, on theconsonant, as _hab-it_, _pref-ace_, _proph-et_. The former divisionshows the _origin_ of the word; the latter, its _pronunciation_. Of thetwo, 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 thevowel at the beginning of a line being unsightly. It is also not uncommon, in some American books, to omit the commaafter the second noun in the case of the mention of _three_ nouns, as in the sentence, "Industry, honesty, and temperance are essentialto happiness, " and also to omit the comma after the second name inthe sign of a firm of three, as, "Little, Brown, & Co. " While inthis country the omission of the comma in these instances is oftenmade, it by no means follows that such omission is correct. Anotherdifference from the English practice is that of omitting the commaafter the given number of a street, as, "274 Washington Street. " Inthis case, the grammatical reason for placing the comma after thenumber is that there are not 274 Washington _streets_, but that themeaning is No. 274 _of_ Washington Street. Many authors and printers vary also in the capitalization of certaincompound titles or names, as, the "Charles River, " the "river Thames, ""New York City, " the "city of Boston, " the "Blue Hills, " the "WhiteMountains, "--the words _River_, _City_, and _Mountain_ beginning witha capital letter or with a small letter according to their position inthe 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, causingan 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: patiencegains the day!'" I had some difficulty in understanding the meaning ofthis pleasantry till I supplied the hyphen between the two words, _native-saying_. When a compound title becomes very common, the twowords coalesce, as, _cornfield_, _farmyard_, _schoolhouse_, etc. It is not uncommon to see the titles of books, especially in theprinted catalogues of our Public Libraries, begin with a small orlower-case letter. This style is not only incorrect, but misleading, and corrupting good taste, and should not be adopted by men ofletters. The reason given for it, namely, _ease in reading_, is veryweak 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 presentor ideographic method, the difficulties of the proof-reader will begreatly increased. To-day it would be a difficult matter for him tospell the expression, "Uneeda Biscuit, " or to decide the correct mode ofprinting the word "coffee, " which sometimes appears as _kaughphy_. It istrue that phonotypy would enable the child the more easily to master theart of spelling; but whether words meaning the same thing would bespelled alike by all writers is very questionable, as the most commonwords 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, littleor nothing was known. In the Greek works on papyrus before Christ, there are to be found certain marks indicating pauses, such as thewedge-shaped sign (>). In Biblical MSS. , however, the division of thetext into lines enabled the reader the more easily to understand themeaning, and was an assistance to him in public reading. As manyblunders were made by the monks in transcribing and re-transcribing theancient MSS. , the assistance of the corrector, or proof-reader, was asmuch needed then as now; the wrong words were erased with a sponge orwith a knife, and the corrected words inserted. Solomon, three thousandyears ago, said, "Of making many books there is no end; and much studyis a weariness of the flesh. " This was uttered at a time when few reador studied, and when all books were in _manuscript_, the printer's artbeing then unknown. To-day everybody reads, studies, and writes; what atone time was a "weariness of the flesh" has to-day become a pleasure anda joy. Jeremy Belknap, in his Papers, says that there are four thingsnecessary to constitute a man: "first, he should build a house; second, he should write a book; third, he should get a child; fourth, he shouldplant a tree. " Now, let us not only do all these things prescribed, but let ussupplement them by four others, which the proof-reader thinks are justas, 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, butgood books. When I enter a bookstore, or more especially a largepublishing house, like that for instance of Little, Brown, & Co. , andbehold before me row upon row of books, --"a sea of upturned faces, " asit were, --my feelings are like those of a loving mother, who, withoutstretched arms, is ever ready to embrace and press to her bosom herbeloved child. I long to clasp by the hand one and all of theseattractive, 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, asI was studying my lessons for the morrow, my father read to me, fromChanning's _Essay on Self Culture_, the words I have quoted, whichillustrate not only Channing's enthusiasm, but the power and influenceof 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. " Manya time a book has decided the character of a man's life. A bookmakes friends for you; for there springs up from its reading anacquaintanceship not only between you and the author, but betweenyou and another man who reads the same book. Samuel Johnson, hearingthat a man had read Burton's "Anatomy of Melancholy, " exclaimed, "IfI knew that man I could hug him. " It is said that Cæsar, whenshipwrecked 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 theappreciation which men of culture have for those books out of whichthey have drawn inspiration for their lives, or into the making ofwhich they have put their souls; and they all prove, also, the immenseimportance of the accomplished proof-reader in helping to create forus 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