XVI
PROOF-READING
N no branch of printing do methods and performance differ more than in that of proof-reading. In one printing-house one reader and his copy-holder may read for fifteen compositors who are engaged in setting type by hand on a plain reprint; in another, that reader may find it difficult to keep up with the product of six compositors engaged on a troublesome and frequently revised and corrected manuscript. His performance is controlled by the legibility of the copy, the number of proofs, the re-readings of repeatedly corrected author's proofs, and other hindrances caused by correspondence and interviews with the author or publisher. To these delays may be added the time lost in searching or consulting books of reference or authority for a verification of doubted dates and names.
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