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UNIV. OF CALIFORNIA

I

THE PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPTS

IN preparing a manuscript for the printer, care should be taken (1) to use paper of uniform size; (2) to number each sheet consecutively in the top right-hand corner; (3) to allow a margin on the left-hand side of the paper used, the width of which must depend upon the size of the paper itself; (4) to write with black ink or to manutype with a black record ribbon, as colored inks are less legible and are harmful to the sight; (5) to follow a standard guide in all matters of orthography.

All writing should be plainly legible, and be only on one side of the paper; slovenly or illwritten manuscript is more costly to set in type, as operators and compositors take more time to decipher illegible writing and to play it on the typesetting-machine or to set it up by hand.

Nothing should be left to conjecture. If the original manuscript is heavily interlined it should be rewritten, and care taken to write the interlineations in their proper places in the body of the text; then the two should be carefully compared.

This will not only save time in composition and proof-reading, but will also reduce the expense of authors' corrections in proof.

Every sentence should be punctuated correctly, so as to guard against ambiguity. Long sentences should be avoided; brevity insures lucidity. Be comprehensive, yet concise.

The author of a manuscript may save considerable expense if, besides giving attention to the subject-matter and the literary style, he edit his own copy. This last consists of preparing the manuscript practically for the printer. Editing includes (1) the securing of a uniform typographical style throughout any production; (2) the indicating of paragraphs where they should occur; (3) the adopting of a system of punctuation, that the reader may correctly interpret the meaning; (4) the systematic application of rules governing capitalization and spelling; (5) the inserting of chapter-headings; (6) the supplying of head-lines or box-heads, and many other details, such as the preparation of a preface, a table of contents, and an index. This labor, often undertaken by publishers at the request of authors, is costly, but the expense may be avoided by authors who edit their own manuscripts after having completed the creative work. Most writers who read over their manuscripts a few days

No

after having written them will notice how readily they can lighten the text by substituting simple words for others of a ponderous character. ambiguous statement should be retained. verbosity ought to be eliminated.

No manuscript should be corrected as if it were a proof. All alterations required should be plainly marked in the body of the subject-matter-not in the margin, as is done on a proof. Whenever an abbreviation or an abbreviated word is to be printed in full, a circle should be drawn around it with a pen and ink.

HOW TO SECURE THE BEST RESULTS
FROM THE PRINTER

By following seriatim the suggestions made below, the author will secure the best results from the printer.

1. Indicate paragraphs clearly. If attention has not been paid to paragraphing while the subject-matter was in preparation, the paragraph may be indicated by marking on the manuscript the symbol wherever a paragraph is required.

2. Underline all titles-as, of chapters, sections, etc.-clearly; also all passages which require emphasis. Note that a single line drawn under a word denotes that it is to be set in italic type; that two lines denote the word is

to be set in SMALL CAPITALS; that three lines denote it should be set in FULL CAPITALS; that four lines denote it should be set in ITALIC CAPITALS; that a single wave-line denotes it should be set in lower-case bold-faced type (there are several varieties of this); and that a double wave-underline denotes it should be set in

BOLD-FACED CAPITALS.

3. Indicate side-heads which are to aline with the rest of the type-matter with an underline— as, for italics, small capitals, bold-face, etc.

EXAMPLE OF A SIDE=HEAD

Principal Kinds of Inscriptions.-The great bulk of Greek and Latin Jewish inscriptions are on tombstones; texts not of this character are quite the exception.

If a side-note is required it should be marked on the manuscript on the side where it is to be set. This may be done by writing the words of the side-note in a box; so:

Decline

and Fall

or in a three-quarter

box; so:

Decline

and Fall

EXAMPLE OF A SIDE=NOTE

The Aryan Medes, who had attained to organized power east and northeast of Nineveh, repeatedly invaded Assyria proper, and in 607 succeeded in destroying the city. The other fortresses doubtless had been ocDecline cupied some time previously. and Fall The capital was very strongly fortified. Its most vulnerable point was the River Khausar, which ran through the city, and which, while serving for defense, might be turned also to its destruction.

4. Write all new matter to be added, if more than one line in extent, on a separate sheet, and indicate clearly the place for its insertion. If one line or less, write addition between the lines, using a caret (^) to show where it should be inserted. If one page or more, the folio number should be followed by an alphabetical sign, as 23a, 23b, 23c, to indicate that matter added is to follow regular page 23.

5. When illustrations are to be inserted in the text, a complete list of same should accompany it. The author should indicate on the margin of his manuscript the specific illustration to be inserted at a given point. This may be done by numbering the illustrations in the order in which they are to be used, and by marking corresponding numbers on the margin of the text itself.

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