PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
The extensive circulation of the first edition of “Pens and Types,” attested by the worn condition of the stereotype plates, induces the author to present to his friends and the public a new and improved edition, embodying the results of a wider experience.
The most important portions of the first edition have been retained. The chapter on Orthography has been enlarged by the addition of ONE correct and authorized spelling of the many hundreds of doubtful words—words to which writer and printer can give but one form, while lexicographers give two or more. For offices which adopt Webster as the standard, Webster’s first column has been closely followed; and for those which follow Worcester’s style, a list is added, adhering to Worcester’s first column. Some words of the lexicographers’ second columns are also placed in the lists (e. g. draught as well as draft), giving to each word its proper and distinct significations.
Moreover we have in the same chapter placed a list of all the words ending in able and ible which {p12} are to be found in ordinary English dictionaries,—whether words in common use or rare or obsolete,—a feature which compositors and many others will know how to appreciate.
A chapter on the Right Use of Capitals, with rules and examples; and another on Old Style and its ligatures, with fac-similes from ancient specimens of typography, give additional value to this edition.
The index at the end of the volume will enable the reader to find at once any particular rule or direction contained in the body of the work.
Although originally intended for authors and printers, this volume will, we are confident, be in many respects a valuable reference-book for teachers and pupils in the public schools, and in seminaries of learning generally.