Re: unwrapa and space after period

[Bill Troop billtroop@xxxxxxxx]

> (Some ill-informed people are trying to say that the double space was
> never anything but a typewriter expedient, like underlining for italics,
> but that simply isn't so: one learned to double space after a period in
> Typing 101 back in the 50s because that was how type was set back then.)
I'm sorry, Patricia, but you're on shaky historical ground here. The
spacing practices of the great 15th century printers, for instance Aldus,
set the standard for type ever after, with narrow spaces between both words
and sentences. Large spaces between words and sentences are a 19th century
aberration, thought to be due to the fact that 19th century compositors,
paid by the em quad, could make substantially more money by placing huge
spaces between words and sentences. (Some typewriter theorists posit that
the two space after punctuation practice was spawned to mimic the debased
spacing standards of the Industrial Age; there is no more persuasive
argument in ken.) In any case, the great revival of typographical standards
set in motion by William Morris in the late 19th century put an end to the
temporary aberration of large spaces after sentences (and between words) in
all printed matter though not in typewritten matter. That revolution in
typographical taste has continued with surprising strength, unbroken up to
the present. You would have to search hard indeed to find any professional
printing either before 1820 or after 1920 that did not have relatively
small spaces between words and after sentences. This practice is the
immutable rule of good typography.
That said, it is probably preferable practice to use two spaces after
punctuation when setting type in monspaced 'typewriter' fonts such as
Courier. But all 'printing' (i.e. proportional) types made today are
designed to be used with one carefully calibrated space after punctuation.
Speaking in my role as a designer of typefaces, I can think of no type
designer in history, except in the Victorian period, known for its
unreadable, narrow, light, ineffably ugly types, who would not be appalled
by the entirely contemporary practice of setting text with two spaces after
punctuation, when using any of the numerous fine printing typefaces that
are available to all computer users today.
What is an absolutely contemporary aberration is the use of two spaces
after punctuation in fine printing typefaces like Times and its various
relatives. This never existed in any professional typesetting with these
typefaces. It is the result of placing types originally designed for
professional printers in the hands of persons with no typographical
training. The only time you will see large spaces today in professional
typography today is when there is poor hyphenation and justification of
very narrow columns.
Is type more readable when set with large, unsightly gaps between
sentences? I rather doubt it. The vast majority of books and magazines
throughout history and certainly throughout the 20th century are set with a
small space after punctuation. How is it that centuries of readers have not
rebelled at this practice, if it actually impeded comprehensibility? Why is
there not a single newspaper in the world that uses two spaces after
punctuation -- even in their online editions? Finally, I do not believe
there has ever been a legibility study which showed that large spaces after
punctuation assisted readability. Admittedly, there has been surprisingly
little legibility research throughout the entire 20th century. Our
legibility standards have essentially been set not by scientists but by the
common sense of printers and typeface designers and manufacturers.
The dilemma described in this thread would not exist if we who typewrite
did not now habitually set our text in typefaces hitherto reserved for fine
printing. When we are doing so, I believe we ought to adhere to the
standards of printers. When we are printing our documents in typewriter
type, we should of course use the customary practice. But any 'typewritten'
matter sent to a professional printer is always stripped of its extra
spaces. It may be noticed, too, by the lawyers in this group that
professionally typeset legal documents invariably have one space after
punctuation. My apologies for badgering at such length.