_Colophons, Tail-pieces, &c._ (see p. 142), make a pleasant finish, and may complete the page or not as convenient.
_Planning: Sections and Pages._--Calculations of the amount of text, of the number of sections or pages required, and so on, are useful, and planning the pages may be convenient--for example, one or more of the verses of a poem, or a given number of words, may be allotted to the page--provided always that the scribe preserves his freedom, and treats each case on its merits. If he think it most suitable to devote a complete page to each paragraph, he may do so in spite of its resulting in the pages all being of different lengths.
The one general limitation which it is proper to [p343] observe is that of the _Writing-line_--its length[92] and spacing--and to this may be added the desirability of beginning the text of every page on the first or _head_ line.[93] For most of us it is not practically possible to do without the _aid_ of the writing-lines--which really lead, through uniformity, to greater freedom--though a book written without them[94] might be as beautiful as any ruled manuscript.
_Marginal Lines._--These, the terminals of the writing-lines, are frequently made double, with about 1/4 inch between (see Plates XX. and XV.). On the left this space is utilised for marginal capitals, or is left blank; on the right the _first_ line acts as a warning mark and the normal termination of the text, the _second_ as a barrier beyond which the writing should not go. The double lines, in being more obvious than single lines, are also more effective in "straightening" the page (p. 109): presumably for this reason the two upper and two lower _writing-lines_ were often ruled from edge to edge of the page (see Plate XI.).
_Ruling._--Marginal and writing-lines, once ruled, are to be left intact, and may be regarded as actual component parts of the finished pages. They are best made with a hard blunt point (p. 108)--the _furrows_ so made give an interesting character, almost a "texture," to the smooth surface of the page. But they may be ruled with a fine lead pencil, or with a fine pen and faint black or [p344] coloured inks. Inked or coloured lines, however, are not generally written _upon_ (see _footnote_, p. 305), but _between_ (see Plates XIII., XVII., XX., &c.).