may be as unpleasing as too little. If the blanks of the title are too wide, so that the coherence of straggling lines is not apparent at first glance, the effect of good composition is destroyed.
What is of value for the title-page is of value also for the page of text. White space is required to make printing comprehensible. A new chapter is identified at once by a larger allowance of blank at the top of that page. A change of importance in the subject-matter of the text, like that of a document, extract, or letter, is more plainly indicated by putting a full blank line before and after the insert. A change of minor importance is indicated by putting a small square of white, known as the em quadrat, at the beginning of a new paragraph. This petty square of white makes a break in the regular outline of the page which arrests attention almost as plainly and more neatly than was done by the ¶ or ⸿ which were the paragraph-marks of the early printers.[1]
Much more might be said about the importance of suitable blanks for title-pages and chapter headings, but the relief of white space produced by the quadrats which are most used in the composition of book texts is all that can be considered under this
- ↑ The repetition of these truisms may be of small value to compositors who have had experience in type-setting, but it seems to be sorely needed by the amateurs and the young compositors who are servilely imitating methods of huddling words which deservedly have been dis carded for centuries. For an illustration of the old methods of pinching space and huddling words, see facsimiles on pages 34 and 173 of this book.
