NOTE. "Ad loc., cf., e. g., et seq., ib., ibid., id., i. e., loc. cit., op. cit., q.v., s. v., viz., not to be in italic."- Oxford University Press.

515. Manuscript; proof-readers' marks. In preparing manuscript (called "copy" by the printer), use entire sheets of ordinary typewriting paper. On the left-hand side of the paper leave a margin not less than an inch in width. Indent the first line of each paragraph not less than half an inch. Write legibly, preferably with a typewriter, spacing well and uniformly between the lines. Write on one side of the paper only. When you have finished writing the manuscript, revise it with great care to see that it is correct in pagination, capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and paragraphing. Do not fold or roll the manuscript.

Proof-readers' marks. The following marks are used in

NOTE. For the use of italic and bold-faced marks of punctuation, see § 495, N. I.

The paragraph below shows how a printer's first proof appears after being marked by a proof reader:

I I no sooner come in to the library, but I bolt the /tom lust/ door to me, excluding, ambition, avarice, and all such

vice, whose nurse is idleness the mother of Igno- /cap. /; rance and Melancholy herself

no/... And in the very lap of eternity, amongst so many w 2/ divine souls, I taxe my seat, with a spirit so lofty . stet and sweet content, that I pity all great ones, and our/↓ rich men, that know not this happiness.- Heinsius, .c. #keeper of the libraryat Leiden.

The first proof of a book or the like is usually taken from the type while it is on the printer's galley, and is called "galley proof". Proof taken when the type is made up into pages is called "page proof". The revised proof of the matter at the bottom of the preceding page would appear as follows:

I no sooner come into the library, but I bolt the door to me, excluding lust, ambition, avarice, and all such vices, whose nurse is Idleness the mother of Ignorance, and Melancholy herself; and in the very lap of eternity, amongst so many divine souls, I take my seat, with so lofty a spirit and sweet content, that I pity all our great ones, and rich men, that know not this happiness. — HEINSIUS, keeper of the library at Leiden. (From Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy.)

CHAPTER X

LETTER WRITING

Letters should be easy and natural, and convey to the persons to whom we send them just what we would say to those persons if we were with them. LORD CHESsterfield.

Nothing is so vulgar as haste. - EMERSON.

516. Letters in general. Letters not only play a leading part as a branch of literature, but in daily life they are the most general, interesting, and practical kind of writing. Being personal in their nature, they reveal the writer's real self, and hence they should be made to reveal his best self; for what is written is written, and must stand with all its imperfections, regardless of protest or apology. Letters are so indicative of education and character that many a splendid opportunity is won or lost by the literary or the mechanical style of a single epistle. "Style", Lord Chesterfield wrote to his son, "is the dress of thoughts; and let them be ever so just, if your style is homely, coarse, or vulgar, they will appear to as much disadvantage, and be as ill received, as your person, though ever so well-proportioned, would be if dressed in rags, dirt, and tatters."

517. Business letters. Business letters should be written with even greater care than social letters, that by their form they may testify to the esteem in which the writer holds his patron, and may extend to him the courtesy dictated by good breeding. Such letters are a tonic to both recipient and writer. On the other hand, ignorance and bad taste may be displayed as quickly by improper abbreviations, for example, as by bad spelling or bad grammar.

518. Models. School libraries should be provided with collections of letters, such as may now be purchased at a small cost.

In writing letters imitate the best models. Avoid repetition (study the outlines in § 359). When you go out into the world, maintain your self-respect by not permitting the rush of business to tempt you to adopt the ill manners of short cuts and slovenly methods. Read your work aloud; see § 364.

THE INFORMAL PERSONA

SONAL (OR FRIENDLY) LETTER

519. Informal personal letter. The personal letter may be informal or formal. Study the following informal personal letters written by Charles Dickens and James Russell Lowell:

My dear Longfellow,

Broadstairs, Kent, September 28, 1842.

How stands it about your visit, do you say? Thus: your bed is waiting to be slept in; the door is gaping hospitably to receive you. I am ready to spring towards it with open arms at the first indication of a Longfellow knock or ring. And the door, the bed, I, and everybody else who is in the secret, have been expecting you for the last month.

I have decided, perhaps you know, to publish my American Visit. By the time you come to me I hope I shall have finished writing it. I have spoken very honestly and fairly; and I know that those in America for whom I care will like me better for the book. A great many people will like me infinitely the worse, and make a devil of me straightway.

Rogers is staying here, and begs me to commend him to you, and to say that he has made me pledge myself, on pain of nonforgiveness ever afterward, to carry you to see him without loss of time when you come.

Faithfully your friend,

Charles Dickens.