Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. There is a general belief that the correction of these oversights is the duty of the printer, and the writer too often throws this duty largely on the compositor and the proof-reader. During the last fifty years there has been no marked improvement in the average writer's preparation of copy for the printer, but there have been steadily increasing exactions from book-buyers. The printing that passed a tolerant inspection in 1850 does not pass now. The reader insists on more attention to uniformity in mechanical details. He notices blemishes in the composition of types more quickly than lapses or oversights made by the author in written expression. Not every reader assumes to be a critic of style in liter ature, but the reader of to-day is more or less a critic of style in type-setting.

There is a general belief that the correction of these oversights is the duty of the printer, and the writer too often throws this duty largely on the compositor and the proof-reader. During the last fifty years there has been no marked improvement in the average writer's preparation of copy for the printer, but there have been steadily increasing exactions from book-buyers. The printing that passed a tolerant inspection in 1850 does not pass now. The reader insists on more attention to uniformity in mechanical details. He notices blemishes in the composition of types more quickly than lapses or oversights made by the author in written expression. Not every reader assumes to be a critic of style in liter ature, but the reader of to-day is more or less a critic of style in type-setting.