CHAPTER VII. CAPITALIZATION.
To persons who have paid no special, technical attention to the subject, capitalization appears a very simple matter. The rules are few and easily understood; but as to the “application of them” there is some perplexity and much diversity among authors, printers, and proof-readers. Practically, the main difficulty seems to arise from the want of a plain line of demarkation between common nouns and proper nouns! Some write and print “Pacific Ocean” as the proper name of a certain collection of water; others, “Pacific ocean,”—ocean being a common noun. We may, perhaps, recur to this abstruse matter farther on; but at present we will lay down such rules as we have used in our own labors, and which we deem to be correct. It will be very convenient for us, and therefore we hope excusable, to adopt two phrases from the expressive terminology of the printing-office, where some words are said to be “put up,” and others to be “put down”; e. g.:
Here “Music” is said to be “put up,” because it begins with a capital “M,” and “maid” is “put down,” because it begins with a small “m.” {p172}
Here “Abelard,” “Eloisa” are “put up,” and “music” is “put down.”
This premised, understood, and forgiven, we are ready for the—
RULES FOR THE RIGHT USE OF CAPITALS.
Rule 1. The initial letter of every sentence should be a capital.
Yours received. Glad to hear from you. Will answer next week.
Capitals, Y, G, W, as per Rule 1.
And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear.—Genesis 4 : 13.
Capitals, A and M; for here are two sentences, although one is included in the other.
Cain said that his punishment was greater than he could bear.
Capital C, by Rule 1; but the included words of Cain being brought in obliquely, no capital is required.
Cicero said, “There is no moment without some duty”; and who doubts the wisdom of Cicero?
C and T are put up, by Rule 1.
On the first day of January, Artemus Ward made this remark: Now is a good time to resoloot.
O and N are put up, by Rule 1.
Few truisms are truer than this paradox of Aristotle,—To mankind in general, the parts are greater than the whole.
F and T are put up, by Rule 1.
It has been said, that the included sentence should not be capitalized unless immediately preceded by a colon: but the {p173} above examples show, that a sentence directly introduced must be capitalized, whatever point precedes it,—comma, comma-dash, colon, or any other pause-mark.
He asked why he was arrested, and we replied that he was arrested on suspicion.
Initial capital H, by Rule 1.
He asked, “Why am I arrested?” and we replied, “On suspicion.”
Here are three initial capitals, and properly; for the reply, fully expressed, would be, “You are arrested on suspicion.”
So, also, captions, head-lines, side-heads, etc., being imperfect sentences, fall under Rule 1. The same is true of particulars depending from a general heading; as—
- Property destroyed by the late fire:
- Seventy reams elephant paper;
- Tables, chairs, desks;
- Old-fashioned hall-clock;
- Johnson’s Dictionary, 1st ed.
We have remarked above, on the passage from Genesis, that a sentence introduced obliquely requires no capital. In the following example, whether Sparta should be inclosed with walls is an indirect question, and is not capitalized; while the answer, being direct, takes a capital.
To the question whether Sparta should be inclosed with walls, Lycurgus made this answer: “That city is well fortified which has a wall of men instead of brick.”
Kerl’s rule (Grammar, p. 41) is “Within a sentence, the first word of any important beginning may commence with a capital letter.” This rule is probably as precise as can be framed to meet his first example, “Resolved, That our Senators be requested, etc.” His second example, “One truth is clear: Whatever is, is right,” falls within his rule, and our Rule 1. (See page 81, for capitalizing, etc., preambles, resolutions, provisos, etc.) {p174}
When a sentence is introduced obliquely, a capital is not required, even if the passage introduced have quotation marks, and make perfect sense without the introductory prefix, as in the following example:
It is remarked by Parton, that “a man who retains to the age of seventy-nine the vigor of manhood and the liveliness of a boy, cannot, at any period of his life, have egregiously violated the laws of his being.”
2. The first letter in every line of poetry should be a capital.
But in reprinting ancient hymns, etc., follow the ancient style,—as in the following from the Bible printed in London by Robert Barker, in 1615:
3. Principal words in the titles of books, of important documents, of proclamations, of edicts, of conventions, and words of especial distinction in monographs, should be put up.
Who is the author of “The Mill on the Floss”?
The English barons obtained Magna Charta, or the Great Charter, from King John, A.D. 1215.
When the Edict of Nantes was revoked by Louis XIV., above 50,000 Huguenots fled from France.
The father of Watts the hymnist, suffered much after the withdrawal of the Declaration of Indulgence.
Every State having chess clubs in its cities should organize a State Chess Association, and these associations should send delegates to the Annual Convention of the National Association.—Phil. Ledger.
The President of the United States, the Sovereign of England, and the Governors of the several States of our Union, issue proclamations. Despots issue edicts,—sometimes called by the more general name of “decrees,” as in Ezra 6 : 1, 3. From Esther 1 : 19–22 we learn that a “royal commandment” was sent into all the king’s provinces, “that every man should bear rule in his own house.” If any of our readers have occasion to put in type, or read the proof of, the title of an edict or decree, they will, of course, make it agree with the rule. Of proclamations we have several every year. Frequently all the letters of the titles are capitals; otherwise, the capitals appear as in the following example:
A PROCLAMATION for a Day of Public Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer.
In a monograph of a geological survey the following paragraph appears:
The dark laminated clays of the Cretaceous passing up into the Upper Cretaceous are well shown . . . . passing up {p176} into brown sandstones of the Coal group. There is great uniformity in the Upper Cretaceous and Tertiary series.—
Hayden, Survey Montana.
Webster says, that the Carboniferous age “embraces three periods, the Subcarboniferous, the Carboniferous, and the Permian,” but the Fifth Ann. Rep. U. S. Geol. Survey, doubtless for some good reason, changes the style to the sub-Carboniferous (v. remark under Rule 8, on “transatlantic,” etc.).
The main subject under discussion being Woman Suffrage, those words were properly capitalized in the following paragraph:
It is conceded . . . that the avowal even, of faith in the principle of Woman Suffrage, would handicap the party most seriously.
In accordance with Rule 3 was this direction touching a Report on Education:
Spell “report” with capital R, when it refers to this Report; l. c. [lower-case] in other cases.
Presidential, imperial, kingly, ducal, etc., titles are put down when used generally, but are put up when applied to persons. In the following example “an emperor” is down, while “the Emperor” is put up.
The events which now took place in the interior of Germany were such as usually happened when either the throne was without an emperor, or the Emperor without a sense of his imperial dignity.—Schiller’s Thirty Years’ War.
Beginning with President Washington and including President Harrison, the United States has had twenty-three presidents.
4. Names and appellations of the Supreme Being should be capitalized.
We forbear inserting a list of the sacred names, too often written and uttered “in vain.” The reader is probably {p177} familiar with them from listening to Sabbath services, and reading religious books with which, we hope, his library abounds.
The word “providence” should be put down or up, according to its meaning, as may be seen in the two following sentences:
But behold now another providence of God; a ship came into the harbor. . . . This ship had store of English beads and some knives.—New England’s Memorial.
Nouns ordinarily common become proper when written as names of the Supreme Being.
I hope my merciful Judge will bear in mind my heavy punishment on earth.—Pickwick Papers, ch. 44.
Emerson refers “all productions at last to an aboriginal Power.”—Century Maga.
Plato said, that in all nations certain minds dwell on the “fundamental Unity,” and “lose all being in one Being.”—Ib.
In the above examples, the effect of capitals in conveying the idea of personality is strikingly illustrated.
Pronouns referring to the Deity are not usually put up,—excepting the personals “He,” “Him.”
O thou, whose justice reigns on high.—Watts.
O thou, Most High—Ps. 56 : 2.
Father of all mercies, we, thine unworthy servants, do give thee most humble and hearty thanks for all thy goodness.—Common Prayer.
Thou, whose, thine, thy, properly lower-case.
Usage is ununiform as to capitalizing the pronoun of the third person, when referring to the Deity; some using the capital in all three cases (He, His, Him), while others capitalize the nominative and objective, and put “his” down; and still others put all the cases down.
God does love us. As any loving father or mother, He wants us to want His society, and to love to be with and talk with Him.—Congregationalist.
Small letter in the possessive, capital in the objective: {p178}
All the works of God . . . declare the glory of his perfections. . . . But how gross are the conceptions generally entertained of the character of Him “in whom we live and move!”
Dick. Improv’t Soc. § VI.
All the cases down:
. . . They can know but little . . . of that happiness which God has prepared for them that love him; but . . . this suffices them, that they shall see him as he is, etc. . . . the expectation founded upon his own gracious promise, etc.—Rev. John Newton’s Sermon on the “happy recovery” of King George (modern reprint).
But, whatever the style of the office, there is one category in which the personal pronoun must be capitalized: it is when no antecedent is expressed. Such cases are not of infrequent occurrence. If one were to write—
In all her troubles this good lady never failed to express her confidence in the care of him in whom she had put her trust—
the meaning would be doubtful; “him” might refer to some humane relative, or to the superintendent of the almshouse. But if the sentence were written—
. . . this good lady never failed to express her confidence in the care of Him in whom, etc.—
the meaning—that the Deity is intended—becomes clear.
Adjuncts qualifying names applied to Deity usually require no capitals:
For when we consider ourselves as the creatures of God . . . what can induce us to love, fear, and trust Him, as our God, our Father, and all-sufficient Friend and Helper.—
Mason’s Self-Knowledge.
Here “all-sufficient” is properly put down; as are also “great” and “common” in the following paragraph:
Not only honor and justice, and what I owe to man is my interest; but gratitude also, acquiescence, resignation, adoration, and all I owe to this great polity, and its great Governor our common Parent.—Harris. {p179}
But many cases occur where the adjective is properly put up; especially if the adjective itself denotes sacredness, as the following examples show:
Klopstock . . . suffers himself to forget that the [French] revolution itself is a process of the Divine Providence.—
Coleridge Biog. Lit.
Among the greater number of pagan nations, the most absurd and grovelling notions are entertained respecting the Supreme Intelligence, and the nature of that worship which his perfections demand.—Dick.
We are apt to entertain narrow conceptions of the Divine Nature.—Addison.
The words “Christian” and “Christianity” the best usage puts up; nor does there seem to be any good reason why “christianize” should not also be capitalized.
There are instances where the word “divine,” though referring to sacred personages, should not be put up; as—
If Christ did not hold this key, how is He divine?—
Congregationalist.
The words “godly,” “godfather,” “godmother” are put down: Webster has “godspeed,” and says it is “written also as two separate words, as in 2 John 10.” Worcester does not admit the phrase as one word in his defining columns, but prints it as two, under the word “God”; quoting the same text as Webster. The Congressional Record, 50th Congress, uses capital and hyphen, thus: “God-speed”; and this form is adopted by Abbot Bassett, the talented editor of the L. A. W. Bulletin, in his Farewell to former Chief Consul Hayes:
Still Webster’s style of one word, lower-case, is, we think, preferable, and most used.
The word “gospel” when used generally,—in the sense of good tidings,—should be down; as “Woe is me, if I {p180} preach not the gospel.” But when used as part of a title to a specific book, it goes up; as “The Gospel according to St. Matthew”; “The Apocryphal Gospel of St. Thomas”; “The Gospel of St. Luke.”
5. Names of ancient Greek and Roman divinities, and of all pagan and heathen gods, should be put up.
When the word “god” or “goddess” is applied to a paganic divinity, it is put down. This remark and our Rule 5 are both exemplified in Darwin’s lines,—
So, also, 1 Kings 11 : 33:
Worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon.
The names applied to evil spirits should be put up:
And Satan came also among them.—Job 1 : 6.
Then Apollyon said unto Christian, “Here will I spill thy soul.”—Bunyan.
During a violent thunderstorm, the converted Chinese steward disappeared. The captain found him below, making prostrations before a gilded image. “How is this?” demanded the astonished captain; “I thought you were a Christian.” The Chinaman replied, “Your God velly well, fine weather; stolm like this, want Joss.”
In the above example, the objects of Christian and pagan worship are properly capitalized.
From the foregoing remarks, etc., especially under Rule 4, it will be perceived that capitalization is, in the department of theology as in all others, mostly regulated by office style. But in forming a style, the above rules and examples may be found serviceable.
6. The pronoun I, and the interjection O, should always be put up. {p181}
I scarcely knew how long I had sat there when I became aware of a recognition.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.—Ps. cxlvi.
But in Latin the “O” is frequently put down.
Huc ades, ô formosa puer.—Virgil.
7. Some words which are put down when spelled in full, are put up when contracted.
The Dr. called upon me. Need I say, I regretted the happiness of seeing the doctor?
“Patent-office, number 16” may be written, “Patent-office, No. 16.”
The honorable the Secretary of the Navy.
The Hon. the Secretary of the Navy.
But certain suffixes, whether spelled in full or contracted, are put up or down, or in small caps, capitalized, according to the style of the words to which they are suffixed; as, for instance, the words “junior” and “esquire,” which are put one degree less in dignity than the words to which they are attached; as:
John Smith, jr., esq., [or “junior, esquire.”]
The person’s name being lower-case capitalized, “jr.” and “esq.” are put down.
JOHN DOE, Jr. Esq., [or “Junior, Esquire.”]
The names being small caps, capitalized, the “jr.” and “esq.” are put up.
RICHARD ROE, JR. ESQ., [or “JUNIOR, ESQUIRE.”]
The names being in capitals, the suffixes are capitals and small capitals.
But “D.D.” “LL.D.” “M.D.” etc., are put in large or small capitals according to office style, or a style adapted for the work in which they appear: as— {p182}
John Doe, LL.D.; RICHARD ROE, PH.D.; J. SMITH, M.D.; ABEL MONEY, F.R.S.
Words connected with a number of designation are often put up,—and this is the better way. So, though the words “Bay,” “Dock,” etc., in the following examples may properly be put down if the office style require it, yet the unfettered compositor and reader will prefer to put up those, and all words similarly placed; as:
The planks of Bay No. 6 on Chelsea Bridge have been replaced by ordinary boards purchased at Dock No. 8.
We arrived at Station 16, and proceeded thence through Lock 12 to Dam No. 8.
8. Names of persons, of things personified, of nations, countries, cities, towns, streets, ships, etc., should be put up.
Capt. Samuel Jones sailed in ship Minerva, from Sandy Hook to Tanjong Bolus, the most southerly point of the continent of Asia.
A charming and spirituelle Frenchwoman said of Julius Mohl, that Nature, in forming his character, had skimmed the cream of the three nationalities to which he belonged by birth, by adoption, and by marriage; making him “deep as a German, spirituel as a Frenchman, and loyal as an Englishman.”—Atlantic Monthly.
Charles, Susan, William, Henrietta Matilda, Benjamin Harrison Smith, come in, this minute!
Under this rule proper adjectives may also be classed; as:
The French and American Claims Commission.
He is familiar with the German, French, Russian, Bengalee, Chinese, and Grebo languages.
Is the Monroe doctrine heartily concurred in by European nations?
Names of political parties should be put up.
Democrat, Democratic, Democracy, Republican, Republicanism, Woman-Suffragists, Women’s Rights party, Locofocos, Whigs, Tories, Free-Soilers, Liberals, Independents, etc. {p183}
But when any of these words are used in a general sense, they should be put down; as:
Whatever requires to be done by slow and cautious degrees does not accord with the spirit of democracy.—De Staël.
The tendency of some European nations is toward republicanism.
The words “state” and “territory” applied to political divisions of the United States should be put up; as:
The State of North Dakota. The Territory of Utah.
This State gave a Republican majority.
Some nouns and adjectives originally proper have, by usage, the common form; as:
We sell silver, china, and iron wares.
There is great demand for india-rubber goods.
His pets are guinea-pigs and guinea-hens.
That maltese cat follows her everywhere.
He wears russia-leather boots, morocco gaiters, and a fez cap when dancing the german.
The burglars secured six german silver spoons.
Numbers are denoted by roman capitals or arabic figures.
There are some words yet on debatable ground. It is safe to write “plaster of Paris” or “plaster of paris.” The latter form is well enough for so common an article, and should be preferred by compositors.
Some words which are put up when alone, are put down when they coalesce with a preposition; as:
I crossed the Atlantic to view transatlantic countries.
The transpacific people are apt merchants.
But some write “inter-State,” “cis-Platine,” “trans-Atlantic,” “cis-Padane,” “cis-Alpine,” etc. We know of no good authority for such work. It has no countenance from our lexicographers: and the hyphen and capital in the middle of the words are needless deformities.
NOTE. The “etc.” in Rule 7 is like one spoken of by Coke (an “etc.” of Littleton, I am told), “full of {p184} excellent meaning.” Descending from the name of a continent to the designations “beat,” “precinct,” “alley”; or ascending from “wharf,” “alley” to the name of a continent, through lessening or increasing subdivisions, the line must be drawn somewhere between what is to be put up and what is to be put down. Just where the line is drawn between capital and lower-case initials, between the aristocrats of the page and hoi polloi, is of very little consequence; but as uniformity in a work is desirable while proof-readers are liable to differ, it is as important to have an umpire in a proof-room as it is on a base-ball ground. And as capitalization is wholly arbitrary, the essential qualities of an umpire are, that he shall have a good memory, so as not to overset to-day the decisions of yesterday, and a strong will of his own, which shall not allow any obstinate reader to step across the important imaginary line which separates the ups from the downs,—the majuscules from the minuscules.
If a printing-office requires the services of but one reader, he, happy man, can suit himself, even though reasonably sure that he will suit nobody else—so various and set are the opinions of men on matters of trifling moment. If, however, two readers are employed, and on the same work, the one with the best judgment should be allowed to decide all doubtful points; but in this case, as in matrimonial life, the question as to which has the best judgment, is usually decided, if not by the strongest will, by the will of the party most reckless of consequences. But in proof-reading, any point in dispute is usually so trifling, that the readers can call in the office-boy, technically called printer’s —— but we were once youngest apprentice ourself, and choose to forget the word,—and let him settle it; whereas, in matrimonial life it is a different Agency with a similar name who is generally called in, and “by decision more embroils the fray.” {p185}
To show the absurdity of supposing that good readers will not differ in the use of capitals, we once wrote a paragraph, and gave an exact copy to each of two skilled proof-readers, desiring them to capitalize it as they thought it should be capitalized if about to go to press. We will here give the paragraph as we wrote it—without regard to rules—and then exhibit their corrections, etc., in parallel columns:
Mr. Quilp lives on a wharf which is connected by an alley with a city reservation in beat 17, precinct 8, ward 14. Said reservation is called poplar square; an avenue, known as chestnut avenue, connects that square with Washington street; and Washington street is a thoroughfare connecting the Snowhill division of Junction city with the city of Boomerang, the capital of the state of Cherokee—a state just admitted to the union, and to all the privileges of this happy nation, the United States of America,—the foremost republic of the western hemisphere.
That the differences and agreements in capitalizing may be readily observed, the two returned copies, as left by their respective readers, are printed below, side by side.