“Antiquities of St. Peter’s, by J. Crull (usually signed J. C.).”
If a parenthesis which closes with a note of exclamation or interrogation is inserted where a point occurs, that point should precede the first mark of parenthesis.
“Where foresight and good morals exist, (and do they not here?) the taxes do not stand in the way of an industrious man’s comforts.”
“He directed the letter to Gnat Smith, (spelling Nat with a G!) and deposited it in a fire‐alarm box.”
An exclamation point is often found preceding the first mark of parenthesis.
“Ay, here now! (exclaimed the Critic,) here come Coleridge’s metaphysics!”—Biographia Literaria.
“I am, sir, sensible”—“Hear! Hear!” (they cheer him.) {p93}
When a parenthesis occurs within a parenthesis, brackets should be substituted for the first and last parenthetic marks.
“As for the other party [I mean (do not misunderstand me) the original inventor], he was absent from the country, at that time.”
“Brackets are generally used . . . to inclose an explanation, note, or observation, standing by itself.”—Parker’s Aids.