Page:Handbook of style in use at the Riverside press, Cambridge, Massachusetts (IA handbookofstylei00riverich).pdf/25

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CAPITALIZATION
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Capitalize—


Commonly accepted appellations for historical epochs, periods in the history of a language or literature; as, Renaissance, Middle Ages, The Crusades, Restoration, Inquisition, Commune.

Names for important events; as, Revolutionary War, the Revolution, Mexican War, the Rebellion, Civil War, Spanish-American War, the Creation, the Flood, the Fall, Louisiana Purchase.

Civic and ecclesiastical feast-days; as, Washington’s Birthday, Fourth of July (the Fourth), Memorial Day, Easter, Passover, Feast of Tabernacles, New Year’s Day, Lord’s Day, Founder's Day, Commencement Day, Good Friday, Black Friday (a famous day).

Nature, Fortune, and similar words when personified.

The pronoun I and the interjection O, but not the form oh.

The first word of direct quotations; as, He said, “In fine, nothing is said now that has not been said before”; also, of sentences, not direct quotations, but written in that form, as, The question is, Shall the bill pass?

Nouns and adjectives only, in tables of contents, headings, etc.

In titles of books, plays, etc., as a rule, nouns and adjectives only. In exceptional cases, such as, What Will He Do with It, The Men Who Made the Nation, it may be better to capitalize all the words in the title except the prepositions, conjunctions, and articles.

In citing names of periodicals, as, the Boston Post, the Springfield Republican, etc., the article the is not to be included as a part of the name.

The second element of a compound word, if a noun, when the first element is capitalized; otherwise not. When a title is double, and its component parts are connected by a hyphen, as in Major-General, both words are to be capitalized.

The names and epithets of peoples, races, and tribes; as, Kafir, Hottentot, Creole, Caucasian, Negro, etc., but gypsy, quadroon, etc,