In 28-2 “false” begins with a small letter.
We are not particularly concerned with the second part of the example (nothing but sordid dust lies here).
What is the meaning of the small-capital letters in No. 28?
What is the meaning of the space following the dash in No. 28-1?
What is the meaning of the capital letter beginning “false” in Nos. 28 and 28-1, and of the small letter beginning the same word in No. 28-2?
What punctuation will best reveal the full meaning of this sentence, so differently treated by these well-known writers?
We venture to assert that few readers would grasp at the first reading the real relations in this sentence, and, further, that not a few cultured readers would make bad work of the sense in reading No. 28-2 at sight.
Mr. Wilson makes no explanation of his use of the small-capital letters; and their absence from Nos. 28-1 and 28-2 imply that Mr. Bigelow and Mr. De Vinne attached no importance to them. We think they serve a useful, if not an indispensable, purpose; and it requires little imagination to picture the scene which this typographical device suggests. Let us imagine it, and learn one important use of the dash.
On an anniversary day, a crowd stands before the monument of a great man. Let us assume it to be a monument of Shakespeare. The speaker is in the midst of his oration, his listeners “hanging” on his words. He turns to the statue, and, with pointing finger, directs the attention of his hearers to the inscription on the base of the monument, which inscription reads as follows: