Capitals / A Primer of Information about Capitalization with some Practical Typographic Hints as to the Use of Capitals

by Frederick W. Hamilton

We therefore, the Commissioners for the Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Haven, do also, for our several governments, subscribe unto these.

John Winthrop, Governor of the Massachusetts
Thomas Dudley Theophilus Eaton
George FenwickEdward Hopkins
Thomas Gregson

Dedications of books are commonly set in small capitals. As these dedicatory formulas are ordinarily brief there should be wide leading, good display, and care as to margins. The author will often give very definite specifications as to the arrangement of his copy in lines, and this will sometimes cause difficulty, occasionally compelling the use of too small type. The author’s specifications must be followed if he adheres to them.

Small capitals are much favored for running titles of pages. Full capitals are much more effective and are to be preferred where the words are few. Small capitals of 12 or 14 point body are distinct but smaller sizes are crowded and hard to read. This difficulty can sometimes be remedied by hair spacing. Over spacing of such lines is objectionable though it has sometimes prevailed as a temporary fashion.

Small capitals used in running titles are exposed to heavy wear and their shallow counters are liable to get choked up with ink. Capitals of the monotint or of a light-faced antique are sometimes selected for books frequently reprinted where the wear on the exposed running titles is very severe.

In reprinting letters it is common to use small capitals for the name of the place from which the letter was written, for the name of the addressee, and for the signature. In job and advertising work the name of the month and day and date are generally put in lower-case of the text letter. This rule is not followed, however, in books. When the heading of the letter is very long lower-case letters are preferable to small capitals under the general rules of taste which govern the use of types. The salutation, Dear Sir, Gentlemen, or the like, does not need small capitals. It is better printed in italic lower-case with a colon (not followed by a dash) at the end. If the matter is double leaded the salutation may go in a line by itself, otherwise conforming to the rules just given.

Reprints of formal inscriptions on tablets and the like are often made in small capitals surrounded by a border. There should be a good relief of white space between the type and the border.

In the Bible and in hymn books the words Lord and God are usually set with full capital initial and the rest of the word in small capitals.

This is, of course, a method of showing veneration and at one time it was customary to print all names of spiritual or temporal dignitaries and magnates or even ordinary names in small capitals. This practice still lingers in a few newspapers which print the names of persons, even those of small consequence, in small capitals, especially on the editorial page.

The tendency is steady toward the discriminating use of capitals, small capitals, and italics. More and more we restrict the use of marks of emphasis to the really necessary places leaving the words to tell their story without outside aid.